P-Noy on 2nd US visit in 12 months

WASHINGTON – P-Noy is on a travel tear.

Fresh from a successful state visit to China, peripatetic President Aquino arrives in New York on Monday for his second trip to the United States in 12 months and less than a week before he embarks on another official visit to Japan.

In November he is scheduled to go to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference.

Aquino’s main purpose this time is to attend the launch of an Open Government Partnership (OGP) at the United Nations in New York and, diplomatic sources said, to lobby Washington to support the Save Our Industries Act which seeks to allow Philippine-made apparel using US fabrics to enter the United States duty free.

The OGP is a new multilateral initiative to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

The Philippines is one of eight countries that compose the OGP Steering Committee. The other members are Brazil, Britain, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, and the United States.

Malacañang has said Aquino will have a one-on-one meeting with President Obama on the sidelines of the OGP forum at the United Nations but the White House has not confirmed this.

When Aquino made his first visit to New York last year to address the UN General Assembly and attend the US-ASEAN summit he was able to have a brief pull-aside with Obama as a concession, diplomats said, to his having recently assumed office.

While in New York Aquino will deliver speeches before a small group of business leaders, the Asia Society and the IBM Centennial Forum.

In Washington he will speak before the World Bank and the Filipino community in the metropolitan area, which includes parts of Maryland and Virginia.

He will also meet with Sen. Daniel Inouye, a staunch supporter of the Philippines in the US Congress and a principal sponsor of the SAVE Act.

According to Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia, support among US legislators for SAVE is growing and the measure could be taken up in the coming months.

What better way to emphasize the importance of the bill for the Philippines than for its lobbyist-in-chief to discuss the matter with Inouye.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima will address the Center for Strategic and International Studies on new developments in the Philippine economy and highlight new areas for cooperation with the United States.

When President Aquino assumed office in June 2010 he intimated he would keep foreign travel to a bare minimum — to essential trips only — to save public money. 

So far he has made nine foreign trips, among them the US last September, Vietnam for a state visit in October 2010, and Japan for the APEC summit in November 2010.

He has also been to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei on state visits.

In her nine years as chief executive, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was reported to have made 77 trips abroad.

Will Aquino have the stamina and/or the desire to break the Arroyo benchmark?

Only time will tell, but foreign travels of new heads of states generally peak during the early part of their administration and dip later as the afterglow dims.