MANILA and Washington may have to do public relations damage control if, as reported, US President Donald Trump skips the East Asia summit meeting in the Philippines of ASEAN leaders and several heads of government in mid-November. Trump could head for home Nov. 14 and miss interacting with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and those of Russia, China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, and South Korea. If the stars would be in their proper places on Nov. 10, Duterte and Trump could still have a one-on-one in Vietnam, when they are scheduled to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. In other areas, China and Russia have also given military materiel, including munitions and sea craft, for the Philippine armed forces. A number of times, Duterte had threatened to declare a revolutionary government to cut short his campaign for “pagbabago” (reform).

Source: Philippine Star October 25, 2017 16:30 UTC