Duterte to arrive in Laos Monday night for Asean Summit

President Rodrigo Duterte. SIMEON CELI/PPD

VIENTIANE, Laos – President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to arrive here on Monday night to attend the 28th and 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) summits, his first international conference as head of state.

The President’s official trip, which came just three days after a bomb tore through a night market in his hometown of Davao City that left 14 people dead and 67 others wounded, is also his first foreign travel since winning the May 9 balloting.

READ: 14 dead, 67 hurt in Davao blast—police

Mr. Duterte and the 30-member Philippine delegation will fly from Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao where he is also set to deliver his departure speech in the afternoon.

Malacanang earlier said the President would attend bilateral meetings with nine heads of state at the sidelines of the summit, among them Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama.

READ: Obama to meet Duterte in Laos next week

It said the Chief Executive could not accommodate the request of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for a meeting because of his tight schedule during the yearly conference of the regional bloc.

Besides receiving the chairmanship of the Philippines for the 2017 Asean summit, the President is also expected to explain to his Asean counterparts his administration’s ruthless war on illegal drugs, which has led to the deaths of some 2,000 drug suspects in his first two months in office.

The President was also scheduled to meet with the Filipino community here upon his arrival from Davao. JE