More foreign trips for Aquino next year

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino will likely have a number of foreign trips next year.

Apart from his expected state visit to Washington in the United States in January, Aquino also has standing invitations to visit New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2012.

This is on top of the usual twice-a-year Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which is due to be held in Cambodia in April next year, and the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the last quarter of 2012 in Russia.

President Barack Obama’s invitation to Aquino was relayed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she visited Manila on Nov. 16.

In an interview last Tuesday at the Christmas party of the Bulong Pulungan at the Sofitel, the President said the New Zealand invite came from its outgoing ambassador.

“And I think I have a standing invitation from Papua New Guinea which is not that far off,” he told the Bulong Pulungan forum, whose officers include STAR Allure section editor Joanne Rae Ramirez and columnist Domini Torrevillas.

The President also hinted that he may visit Europe next year. Aquino did not attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Brussels in 2010.

The US and Europe visits, according to him, are still being worked out, although the Europe visit is not yet final.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard also extended her invitation to Aquino when they met in the last APEC meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii where they held bilateral talks.

Aquino admitted that he does not really enjoy traveling, but that he sometimes had to, owing to the office that he represents. He assured the public nonetheless that he would not make unnecessary trips abroad.