(Eagle News)– President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday (September 8) skipped the ASEAN-United States Summit with US President Barack Obama, and the ASEAN-UN meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki -moon on Wednesday as well.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. represented the Philippines in Duterte’s place in both important meetings.
On Wednesday, Duterte also skipped the ASEAN-UN meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as he had a courtesy call on Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith.
U.S. President Barack Obama held a meeting with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders for the last time on Thursday (September 8) and reiterated U.S. commitment to rebalancing Asia.
Obama became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Laos this week for a series of meetings with the heads of state of the 10-nation regional bloc.
“I’ve now met with leaders of ASEAN eight times, visited Southeast Asia more than any other U.S. president, it reflects the growing importance of ASEAN and this region. ASEAN is key to the U.S. rebalance to Asia and more importantly is key to a peaceful and prosperous future for the world. And we’ve forged this strategic partnership, the U.S. is committed to building on this solid foundation,” Obama said in his opening remarks.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, addressing the ASEAN summit on Wednesday (September 7) in the Laotian capital Vientiane, urged member countries to ratify the Paris agreement.
In Paris last December, nearly 200 countries agreed on a binding global compact to slash greenhouse gases and keep global temperature increases to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius.
While 180 countries have now signed the agreement, 55 nations – covering at least 55 percent of global emissions – need to formally ratify the treaty to put it into legal effect.
Ban hailed host Laos for being the first ASEAN country to ratify the agreement.
“I’m grateful to Prime Minister Sisoulith and the government of Laos PDR for depositing with me this morning the legal instrument of ratification of the Paris agreement. Laos is the first ASEAN country to deposit its official document and I hope others will follow this example,” Ban said.
The Philippines will be chairing next year’s ASEAN Summit when ASEAN is celebrating its 50th year. (with a Reuters report)