Trump may seek meeting with Duterte: envoy

June 22, 2018

US President Donald Trump may seek another meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte as the two countries boost their alliance amidst concerns including China’s actions in the South China Sea.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised this hope in his first meeting with Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon in Washington on Tuesday.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez, who also joined the meeting, said Pompeo expressed hope for a second meeting between Duterte and Trump as a follow up to the “productive and warm friendship” that the two developed during the Philippine hosting of the ASEAN summit in Manila last November.

In that meeting, Cayetano delivered a personal letter from Duterte congratulating Trump for the successful summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore earlier this month.

“Secretary Cayetano and Secretary Pompeo had an open and cordial interaction at the State Department today and we are optimistic this would reinforce the ties that bind the relations between our two countries and peoples,” Romualdez said.

“The Secretary told Secretary Pompeo the Philippines views the current developments in the Korean peninsula with optimism and that the Philippines is hoping the positive momentum generated by the Singapore Summit will bode well for the broader Asia-Pacific region,” he added.

Esperon and newly-appointed US National Security Adviser John Bolton also met separately in Washington on Thursday. They reaffirmed “the importance of the security alliance between the Philippines and the United States.”

No details were given regarding discussions on the South China Sea although Cayetano and Pompeo “underscored the importance both the Philippines and the United States place on their shared historical and people-to-people ties and the strength of their defense alliance." DMS