At least 3 Cabinet officials to join PNoy's US trip

President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III said at least three Cabinet secretaries will accompany him on his first official visit to the United States next week. At a press conference in Camp Crame, Aquino said among those who are sure to join him in his first official foreign trip as chief executive are Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo. A reliable Palace source told GMANews.TV that Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras is also very likely to join the delegation. The source, who requested anonymity as the list is still being finalized, said some lawmakers also want to join the president on his trip. Aquino, however, wants a "lean delegation" and very few lawmakers will join him if he decides to include some of them in the US trip, the source said. More than 20 lawmakers were reported to have joined former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she went to the US last year to meet US President Barack Obama. Several lawmakers used to tag along Arroyo in many of her foreign trips as president and their absence sometimes created quorum problems during Congress sessions. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. earlier said he prefers that only a few lawmakers would accompany the president in his official trip so the House would not have difficulty forming a quorum. Aquino will leave for the US on September 20. During his one-week trip to the US, Aquino will attend a number of business conferences, witness the signing of the Millennium Challenge Corporation's $434-million grant to the Philippines, and attend the United Nations summit on the millennium development goals in New York. Aquino said he will also visit the alma mater of his mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino, who graduated from the Mount Saint Vincent College in New York City. –VVP, GMANews.TV