| Article Index |
|---|
| Arroyo to fly to US Monday night |
| Page 2 |
| All Pages |
MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is departing Monday night for a brief visit to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly that seeks to promote a global dialogue on religion, culture and common values.
The President’s first stop is Chicago where she is set to meet with the large Filipino community on Nov. 11 and buoy their spirits amid the US recession.
The Department of Foreign Affairs was silent on whether it was arranging a possible meeting between Ms Arroyo and US President-elect Obama, whom she had tried—but failed—to personally greet since he won Tuesday’s vote.
“We don’t know,” Foreign Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin replied when asked if the DFA was scheduling an Obama-Arroyo meeting, particularly during the Chicago leg of the trip.
Chicago is Obama’s hometown, but the President’s itinerary does not include a meeting with the US president-elect, according to Press Secretary Jesus Dureza.
The President would then fly to New York and join world leaders at the UN Interfaith Conference on the Dialogue of Civilizations on Nov. 12 and 13. The United Nations has sent invitations to 192 member states to the high-level meeting.
Arroyo will deliver a speech on the value of interfaith dialogue and relate the country’s progress from employing such a tack vis-à-vis the secessionist rebels in southern Philippines.
“The interfaith dialogue is what the Philippines has been pursuing on the ground, especially in Mindanao, before it became an international item of interest,” Dureza said.
The meeting is a follow-up to the July interfaith conference in Madrid initiated by Saudi King Abdullah and King Juan Carlos of Spain that gathered delegates of various faiths and religions.
“The Saudi King asked for the presence of the President,” Dureza said, pointing out that this was one of the “obligatory trips” that the President had to make out of an “international commitment.”
The Middle East is host to hundreds of thousands of expatriate Filipino workers, and is helping in the peace process in Mindanao.
The President is set to fly back to Manila on Nov. 13.
The President embarked on a 10-day working visit to the United States in June. She scrapped a second trip set from Sept. 21 to 26 after fighting broke out between government forces and secessionist rebels following the scuttling of a deal expanding the Bangsamoro territory in southern Philippines.
| Comments |
|
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
