Sakaling matuloy ang biyahe sa mga bansang kasapi ng ASEAN ay tutuhugin ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang ilang karatig-bansa para makamura ng gastos.
Ito ang binigyang-linaw ni Chief Presidential Legal Adviser Salvador Panelo patungkol sa mga nakabinbing ASEAN visit ni Pangulong Duterte.
“Ang alam ko ang biyahe will start on September 6 sa ASEAN. Ang alam ko Malaysia, Vietnam… hindi ko pa alam ang iba. Pero I’m sure marami siyang pupuntahan para isang ano lang isang biyahe hindi na pabalik-balik para less gastos,” ayon kay Panelo.
Sa panig naman ni Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, sinabi nito na bahagi ng traditional visit bilang bagong Pangulo ng Pilipinas ang gagawing pagbiyahe ni Presidente Duterte.
“It’s part of the… well, part of it is really the traditional visit, you know of… it’s really part of tradition. In fact, he’d rather stay here.
He’d rather stay here. But it’s part of tradition that the new President visits because we’re also preparing for our leadership when we take over the ASEAN.
It’s part of the preparation. After Laos, we’re going to be taking over. Those issues, these are up to them, in that sense, you know.
These are part of… part of it is the security which has been raised, the Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippine agreements regarding the porous borders, addressing terrorism, addressing economic possibilities. These are some of the talking points,”sabi ni Abella.