Palace: Duterte visit to cold US still unsure

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2019 09:12:51 +0000

PRESIDENT Duterte and Sen. Bong Go in Russia. (Presidential photo)

Despite being able to endure the cold temperature of Moscow, Russia, Malacañang has said there is still no certainty if President Duterte will take a trip to the United States.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo made the statement after Duterte’s five-day official visit to Moscow and Sochi in Russia last week.

In an interview, Panelo said the President was in good condition but said he was unsure if the President would go to the US since it was cold there.

“Si Presidente, hangga’t nagmumura nasa magandang kalusugan, for as long as he curses, maganda pa ang pangangatawan niyon,” he said. “Alam mo mahirap kasi napakalamig doon, eh dun nga lang sa Russia, mabuti nga nag-survive siya doon. Halos freezing kami doon,” he added.

The temperature in Moscow during Duterte’s visit was from 2°C to 10°C. The President spent three days in Moscow and two days in Sochi were the weather was a bit warmer.

Chief of Presidential Protocol for Foreign Affairs Robert Borje has refused to give a clear answer if weather is a factor in the President’s overseas travels since the Palace repeatedly insisted that the cold weather is preventing Duterte from going to the United States.

However, he said that all overseas trips of the President are important. “I think all of the visits are important. Otherwise he would not go,” he said.

Borje also said that Duterte is free to choose which country he wants to visit.

“I’m not saying weather is not a factor. What we’re saying is the President decides on the import of an outbound visit,” he said. “The President is entitled to exercise his decision on which visits he is going to undertake,” he added.

In July 2017, Duterte said that he will never visit the United States during his te
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