Trump skips East Asia Summit

November 14, 2017

United States President Donald Trump skipped  the 12th East Asia Summit after the scheduled meeting was delayed.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson represented Trump in the summit.

"EAS was supposed to be at 1:30(pm). I believe he was sked (scheduled) to leave at 3(pm) and did so," Roque said.

But before the actual summit, which started at around 3pm, Trump reportedly opted to deliver his speech before other leaders during the lunch hosted by President Rodrigo Duterte at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

During the EAS, Duterte noted the EAS with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was a mechanism by which "strategic dialogues in the evolving regional security architecture takes place."

"We have also been made painfully aware that terrorism knows no borders and that violent extremists are becoming more adept at exploiting power vacuums, instability and discontent to spread their narrative hatred and destruction," he said.

He said the cooperation among the leaders would impact in the pursuit of maintaining peace, security and prosperity in the regions. Celerina Monte/DMS