Aquino off to Vladivostok Friday

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III will leave for Vladivostok, Russia on Friday, September 7, to join world leaders at the 20th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting to be held this weekend.

Lacierda said that Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo, Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras are among the 67-person Philippine official delegation.

Philippine and Chinese authorities were still finalizing the details of the meeting between Aquino and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the APEC meeting, Lacierda said. “We will confirm the meeting as soon as it has been ironed out by both the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) and the Chinese Foreign Ministry,”  he added.

Lacierda said while the South China Sea dispute is expected to be tackled once Aquino and Hu meet, the Philippines would not want this issue to overshadow APEC.

“It won’t…this is primarily an economic summit so I don’t believe that it should be a hindrance to a discussion among the members of the APEC,” Lacierda said. – Rappler.com