Duterte to cut short APEC trip due to 'urgent domestic developments' — Palace

PORT MORESBY — President Rodrigo Duterte had to cut short his participation in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit here because of "urgent domestic developments," Malacañang said on Saturday.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo did not say what developments prompted Duterte to skip some of the events in the summit, which he described as "the most important economic cooperation platform in the world."

"Urgent domestic developments... require the chief executive to return to the Philippines after today's activities. The president will personally convey this imperative decision to his good friend Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’ Neill who we hope will understand the same," Panelo said.

"The Philippines remains supportive of Papua New Guinea’s Chairmanship and will continue to be positively engaged with APEC, which our country considers as the most important economic cooperation platform in the world, especially in reinforcing the formulation of the new and inclusive APEC Vision beyond the year 2020," he added.

Panelo said Duterte has ordered Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez as his special representative for the remainder of the APEC meetings. 

"He (Lopez) is the best person to manifest the president’s support for international mechanisms that will enable our micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to take advantage of digital and online platforms to benefit their businesses and bring their products and services overseas," Panelo said.

Panelo said Lopez would be working with the leaders of other countries towards enabling small businesses in the region to link internationally.

He said Duterte would join today's APEC-related events, which include a dialogue before prominent business leaders during the summit of chief executive officers of the APEC Business Advisory Council, a meeting with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, and a gala dinner.

Duterte will depart for Davao City at 11:15 p.m. tonight (November 17). 

The APEC activities that the president will skip are the taking of the leaders’ official family photo, the International Monetary Fund  informal dialogue with leaders, leaders' retreat, and leaders’ working lunch.