Palace expects Cabinet members not to undertake family trips as well to US

January 30, 2020

Malacanang said on Thursday that the Cabinet members are expected not to undertake personal or family trips to the United States as well.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his Cabinet secretaries not to travel to the US in official capacity as a "boycott" to Washington.

He clarified, however, that Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. is not covered by the "boycott" order.

"They should not go there in the meantime. We have to defer to the President's wishes," he said when asked if the President's order includes personal and family trips of the Cabinet officials.

Asked if the travel ban could also affect the members of the First Family, Panelo said, "Maybe the members of the family will do likewise in deference to the father."

  Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, however, has been on an official trip to the US along with other local officials from Mindanao.

Duterte issued the directive barring the Cabinet secretaries from going to America as a "protest" on Washington's decision to cancel the visa of former Philippine National Police and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa and what he perceived as interference into the country's sovereignty. Celerina Monte/DMS