Duterte leaves Medialdea in charge

EXECUTIVE Secretary Salvador Medialdea will be the caretaker of the government when President Duterte flies to Laos on his first foreign trip, according to Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.

Mr. Duterte is scheduled to leave today for Vientiane, the Laos capital.

His departure comes shortly after he declared a state of lawlessness in the entire country following the deadly blast in a night market in his hometown, Davao City, which killed 14 people and wounded 68 others.

The bombing had prompted Mr. Duterte to cancel his trip to Brunei on Sept. 4-5, which would have been his first foreign trip as President.

The President will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit, which the Philippines will chair next year. The summit is from Sept. 6 to 8.

Afterward, Mr. Duterte will fly to Indonesia for a working visit.

In his Asean meetings, Mr. Duterte earlier said, he was ready to discuss terrorism, human trafficking and drugs with the other leaders.

He also said the Philippines would do its part on the international stage and comply with its obligations and contracts with foreign businesses.

On the sidelines of the Asean summit, Mr. Duterte will hold bilateral talks with other heads of state, including that of the United States, China and Russia.

Human rights issues

US President Barack Obama is expected to raise human rights issues with President Duterte, who had said he was ready to discuss human rights but would insist that Obama listen to him first about the problem the Philippines was facing.

The United States has expressed concern about the killing of drug suspects in the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs.

Malacañang has said the killings are not state sanctioned.

Traveling with Mr. Duterte to Laos are around 30 members of his official delegation, including Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

Cayetano on board

The three secretaries will represent the Asean Political-Security Community pillar, Socio-Cultural Community pillar and Economic Community pillar, respectively.

Andanar and presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella are also expected to accompany the President.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Mr. Duterte’s running mate, is joining the trip in his capacity as chair of the Senate foreign relations committee.

Cayetano will be part of the Philippine delegation that would attend bilateral discussions and meetings on the sidelines of the Asean summit, Malacañang said.