Top RP businessmen join Aquino trip to US

Many of the country’s top businessmen will accompany President Benigno Aquino III in his weeklong working visit to the United States, Malacañang said Monday. Aquino’s 34-member business delegation is led by Ramon R. del Rosario Jr., president and CEO of Phinma Group, according to presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda. Also part of the President’s entourage are Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, San Miguel Corp. president and COO Ramon S. Ang, ABS-CBN chairman and CEO Eugenio Lopez III, Ayala Corp.’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and Aquino’s second-cousin Antonio “Tonyboy" O. Cojuangco, chairman and president of Mantrade Development Corp. Jollibee Food Corp. chairman and CEO Antonio Tan Caktiong, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Francis Chua, Lopez Holdings Corp. chaiman emeritus Oscar Lopez, and Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. president Alfonso Uy, will also be flying with the President in his first foreign trip as head of state. “The business delegation would be comprised of the top-caliber businessmen in the country and they would be there also to accompany the president, and like what the president said they will bring home investments and jobs from the States," Lacierda said. Lacierda said the businessmen would be shouldering their own expenses. Also part of the business delegation are Philippine Multi-Media System Inc. president Manuel F. Abellada, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. president and CEO Erramon I. Aboitiz, Maxima Machineries Inc. president Raul M. Ang, Century Properties chairman and CEO Jose E.B. Antonio, DMCI Holdings Inc. president Isidro Consunji, Philamlife vice chairman Jose L. Cuisia Jr., Lina Group of Companies chairman and former Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina, and Manila Economic Cooperation Office director Manny Dimaculangan. International Container Terminal Services Inc. chairman Enrique K. Razon Jr., SM Investments Corp. vice chairman Teresita Sy-Coson, Planters Development Bank chairman and CEO Jesus Tambunting, Transnational Diversified Group founder and group chairman Jose Roberto Delgado, Del Monte Pacific Ltd. managing director and CEO Joselito D. Campos Jr., Equicom Group chairman Antonio L. Go, and Galeo Equipment and Mining Co. chairman Francis Enrico Gutierrez will also accompany President Aquino. Magsaysay Group of Companies president and CEO Doris Magsaysay-Ho, Philippine Savings Bank senior adviser Domingo Y. Lee, East Asia Utilities Corp. president and CEO Roger Q. Lim, First Gourmet Academy president Romeo H. Mercado, Bank of the Philippine Islands president and CEO Aurelio R. Montinola III, Clark Development Corp. chairman Rizalino S. Navarro, SGV & Co. chairman and managing partner Cirilo Noel, Novare Technologies partner and managing director Myla Villanueva, and Makati Business Club Inc. deputy director Mark Opulencia complete the President’s entourage from the business sector. Aquino is set to fly to the US at 10 p.m. Monday onboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 104 to San Francisco and then take a chartered plane to New York. Aquino’s official delegation from government is composed of 55 people, Lacierda said. Leading the delegation are secretaries Cesar Purisima (Finance), Gregory Domingo (Trade and Industry), Jose Rene Almendas (Energy), and Alberto Romulo (Foreign Affairs). DFA Undersecretary for Police Erlinda Basilio, Chief of Presidential Protocol and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs Miguel Perez-Rubio, and DTI Assistant Secretary Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes will also join Aquino’s US trip. Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Assistant Secretary Ma. Carmen Mislang, Assistant Press Secretary for Media Relations Renato Marfil, Assistant Secretary for Operations Elizalde de Layola, Presidential News Desk editor in chief Francisco Lopez Banos, four media relations officers, five photographers and aides, two protocol officers, 18 members of the Presidential Security Group, and 13 from Radio TV Malacañang will also go with the President. Board of Investment’s director for international marketing Evariste Cagatan and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ executive director for investor relations office Claro Fernandez, completes the President’s entourage. Aquino cut down the number of security detail, private staff, and communications group to save money. Aquino’s official US delegation is significantly leaner than that of his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In 2009, Arroyo led a 107-man delegation in the US to meet US President Barack Obama and spent P69 million in travel expenses, while Aquino’s budget for his US trip is P25 million. Executive Secretary Paquito “Jojo" Ochoa Jr. previously said Aquino would be staying at Sofitel New York instead of the luxurious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Aquino will witness the signing of the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $434-million grant and a meeting with the Philippine Development Foundation to discuss information technology projects. Together with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations President Aquino will join US President Barack Obama for the second US-Asean Leaders Meeting in New York Sept. 24. —VS, GMANews.TV