Aquino flies to the US for weeklong working visit

President Benigno Aquino III left the country late Monday night for a weeklong working visit to the United States carrying a message to the world that the Philippines “is open for business." “We have embarked on this journey to send a message to the world, and particularly to one of our biggest trading partners, the United States of America: the Philippines is open for business," he said in his speech delivered before he boarded a Philippine Airlines flight (PR 104) to San Francisco. The plane left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 10:30 p.m. “We are committed to untangle cumbersome bureaucracy and empowering industries holding great promise especially those that will elevate living conditions in rural areas," President Aquino further said. President Aquino also underscored the need to “rationalize a regulatory system that has been, in many years, a disincentive to foreign investors." He expressed hope that the renewed investor optimism in the country as indicated by the sale of the peso bond last week and the bullish stock market would help make the country a more attractive investment area.

It will be President Aquino’s first foreign trip since he assumed office on June 30, 2010. “This trip happens even before we reach the hundred-day threshold of our administration. We are determined not to waste any time as we continue our nation’s march towards equitable progress," he said. President Aquino was sent off by Vice President Jejomar Binay and members of the Cabinet including Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, and Presidential communicators Edwin Lacierda, Herminio Coloma and Ricky Carandang. Two squads of honor guards from the Philippine Air Force gave him the customary departure honors. Aquino will attend key events in New York on September 24, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Aquino is also slated to visit the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, address its General Assembly, and meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. At the meeting, Aquino is expected to discuss the Philippine commitment and achievements to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), among others. Aquino is also expected to play a leading role at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-US Leaders Meeting, and hold bilateral meetings with other ASEAN state leaders. Aquino and his 57-member delegation are expected to return on September 28. Cabinet secretaries who accompanied the President included Alberto Romulo (Foreign Affairs), Cesar Purisima (Finance), Gregory Domingo (Trade and Industry), and Jose Rene Almendras (Energy). In his absence, Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr. was authorized to sign documents, including those usually signed “under the authority of the President," while Binay would represent him in official ceremonial functions. – KBK, GMANews.TV