Duterte welcomes Pompeo, discusses ‘mutual concerns’
Credit to Author: RALPH VILLANUEVA| Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2019 18:07:32 +0000
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo arrived in Manila and paid a courtesy call to President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday evening.
Pompeo’s plane landed at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City where he and the President held a closed-door meeting.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters on Thursday that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty was on the agenda.
On Tuesday, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the Philippines and the US would discuss “mutual concerns,” such as terrorism and security.
Panelo said that the maritime dispute in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) would be part of the talks if Pompeo would raise it.
With the President and Lorenzana in welcoming Pompeo were Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Panelo, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez and Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Lumen Estela.
Pompeo was accompanied by US Ambassador Sung Kim, Senior Bureau Official Patrick Murphy, US deputy chief of mission John Law State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino.
Pompeo will be meeting Locsin today, Friday.
The State Secretary’s visit to the Philippines came after attending the second summit of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam.
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