Duterte to skip ASEAN summit on Myanmar crisis — Roque

FILE President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus 3 summit on COVID-19 video conference at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on April 14, 2020. ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 24, Malacañang said Thursday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will attend instead.

The April 24 meeting of the 10-country bloc of the Asean is expected to address the ongoing crisis in post-coup Myanmar.

“Ang Presidente hindi personally mag-aattend but I’m sure that our DFA will be there,” Roque said in a Palace briefing when asked if the President will attend the summit.

“It’s the issue of face-to-face. Marami rin pong I think na ‘yung issue lang po talaga is could it be face-to-face or could it be virtual, marami ring di makararating na heads of state ng ASEAN personally,” he added when asked why President Duterte will skip the meeting.

According to the Thai foreign ministry, Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing will join the summit, which is his first official trip since masterminding a coup which deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

EDV