Aquino to meet with business leaders in LA

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

RANCHO MIRAGE, California—A meeting with top business leaders in Los Angeles is also on President Aquino’s agenda when he flies to the United States on Monday to attend the summit between Southeast Asian leaders and US President Barack Obama.

After joining the two-day summit, Mr. Aquino is scheduled to meet with Walt Disney International chair Andy Bird and vice president for global public policy Jim Filippatos on Tuesday.

The President will also sit down with top executives of Western Digital Corp., a computer data storage company and one of the largest manufacturers of hard disk drives, and with Aecom, a provider of professional technical and management support services.

After these meetings, he will address the Los Angeles World Affairs Council (Lawac) to discuss the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea.

Lawac is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering global understanding. It has hosted eight US presidents and more than 250 foreign heads of state and government.

Its members include business leaders and key figures from philanthropy, education, government, the arts, medicine, technology and entertainment, among other fields.

Tickets to Mr. Aquino’s appearance at Lawac have been sold out as of Saturday noon, Manila time, according to a note on the group’s website.

Ticket prices for his talk, scheduled for 6 p.m., on Tuesday, a dinner affair, are $105 for nonmembers, $80 for members and $90 for a guests members.

Mr. Aquino will also talk about security in East Asia and discuss the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, which would give the US military greater access to Philippine military bases, where troops, equipment and weapons can be prepositioned.

On Wednesday, the President will have a podcast interview with the World Policy Institute of Loyola Marymount University.

Afterward, he will be conferred an honorary doctor’s degree by the university, recognizing his work as President and for embodying the spirit of Jesuit education.

Mr. Aquino is scheduled to meet with the Filipino community in Los Angeles before leaving for Manila on Wednesday night. He will arrive in Manila on Friday morning.