Aquino off to Vietnam for state visit, ASEAN meet

(Updated 1:12 p.m.) Barely a month after conducting a working visit to the United States, President Benigno Aquino III left for his first state visit to Vietnam and for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. Aquino was on Philippine Airlines flight PR 591, which took off 7:20 a.m. Tuesday. "I look forward to meeting with President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and (Communist Party of Vietnam) Secretary General Nong Duc Manh, and discussing with them ways to better improve our already dynamic bilateral relations," Aquino said in his departure statement. Aquino's state visit will be held on October 26 to 27. According to Aquino, the Philippines established it bilateral ties with Vietnam in 1976, and the relationship between the two countries have grown to include not just politics but also trade, education, defense, maritime affairs, and environmental concerns, among others. Bilateral trade with Vietnam amounted to US$1.51 billion for the first half of 2010 alone, Aquino said. The Philippine government is set to sign four agreements with Vietnam on education cooperation, defense cooperation, oil spill preparedness and response, and search and rescue at sea. ASEAN Summit After the state visit, Aquino will attend the ASEAN summit on Octobe 28 to 30. Aquino will also meet with Filipino and Vietnamese businessmen and with members of the community of 3,500 Filipinos working in Vietnam. "As I did in my recent visit to the United States, I intend to send the message loud and clear to our friends overseas that the Philippines is once again open for business, as a responsible and dynamic member of the community of nations," said Aquino. At the ASEAN summit, the Philippine president is expected to talk about greater regional cooperation and human rights, among others. The President flew to Vietnam with some members of his Cabinet, including Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Presidential Management staff head Julia Abad, Presidential Communications, Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang, and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairperson Patricia Licuanan. Slated to join him in Vietnam is Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who had already gone ahead. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said there are 52 members of Aquino's official delegation. Seeing him off at the airport were officials led by Vice President Jejomar Binay, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim, Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita "Ging" Deles, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa, Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Ricardo David Jr., and Philippine National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo, among others. Aquino is set to return to the country on Sunday. Aquino is expected to have only one more foreign trip after Vietnam for this year, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Yokohama, Japan in November. No caretaker As was the case when Aquino left for the US last month, there will be no caretaker role for Binay now that Aquino's on a five-day visit to Vietnam. The memorandum Aquino issued authorizing Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr. to sign documents, including those usually signed “under the authority of the President," while he is away, would still be in effect. Under the memo, Ochoa is also allowed to convene the Cabinet when necessary and preside over its meeting if the vice president is unavailable. He will also oversee communications to the President, especially about matters that require Aquino's consultation or approval. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV