Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and US President Donald Trump. (File photos from AFP)
The Malacañang on Saturday confirmed United States President Donald Trump’s visit to Manila in November to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and East Asian Summit conferences.
“We confirm U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Philippines this November,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
“President Trump’s visit underscores the improving Philippine-U.S. ties and President [Rodrigo] Duterte is looking forward to welcoming the U.S. President in Manila,” he added.
“As host country, we hope to make the event productive and pleasant to our foreign guests. We will let them experience our world-famous Filipino hospitality to make sure they would have good memories of their stay in the Philippines,” he said.
READ: White House announces Trump’s PH visit in November
Tensions had marred the relations between the two countries as Duterte declared his pivot to China and unleashed tirades against the U.S., whose officials, including former President Barack Obama, criticized the administration’s violent crackdown against illegal drugs.
U.S. lawmakers had also called for sanctions against the Philippines—including the halt of the sale of arms to the Philippine National Police—as death toll linked to Duterte’s war on drugs mounted.
The relations, however, eased as Trump assumed the presidency in November. Duterte had said he considered the U.S. President as his friend.
During the 116th anniversary of the Balangiga attack on Thursday, Duterte said the Americans have “redeemed themselves a lot.”
READ: Duterte warms up to US, seeks ‘friendly’ ties
“There are so many factors involved but I’d rather be friendly to them now because aside from these episodes of, I said, sad incidents, overall I think the Americans also redeemed themselves a lot,” Duterte said in his speech. /idl