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Sept 12, 2010
MANILA (PinoyNews) — President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III will debut on the world stage as Philippine Head of State when he meets with US President Barack Obama and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the United States on September 24 during the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City.
Aquino will address the 65th UN General Assembly (UNGA), his first opportunity to reaffirm the Philippine Government’s commitment to the UN Charter and its principles, before a gathering of over 150 Heads of State/Government since his election last May.
Aquino will also meet with the members of the Filipino American community in New York and in San Francisco.
In San Francisco, the President will discuss with Filipinos who have gained success in the US in the fields of science technology and engineering and invite them to come home and help build the country.
The President said he was expecting the “good news” from his trip to the US on Sept. 20-26. He, however, did not elaborate.
“Kaya po naman ako napapayag bumiyahe dahil talagang may kasiguraduhan na yung good news Yung dagdag ho doon sa good news ang hinihintay natin,” he said.
“Yung good news na iyon ang magdadala ng talagang pagbabago po sa atin. Sabi nga ng tatay ko noong araw, freedom from hunger has to be the first freedom…at malapit na ho tayo… Sabi nga natin mga two years para maramdaman. Baka ho next year malaki na ang pagbabago,” he said.
He said he was excited to reveal the “good news” expected from his US trip but “mayroon ho tayong kasabihan na kapag hindi pa tanan baka mausog, mawala pa, ayoko na hong isugal.”
The meetings with the two renowned leaders are part of the week-long activities of President Aquino during his September 20-26 visit to the US, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
This year’s UNGA has for its theme “Reaffirming the Central Role of the United Nations in Global Governance,” which the DFA described as “fully aligned with President Aquino’s platform of institutionalizing good governance and combating poverty.”
The Aquino-Obama meeting is in line with the Philippines’ role as Country Coordinator for ASEAN-US Dialogue relations for the period 2009-2012.
This year’s meeting of the 2nd ASEAN-US Leaders Meeting is in New York, where Aquino will have a chance to meet with counterparts in the ASEAN and lead discussions. The first such meeting was in Singapore.
As Country Coordinator, the Philippines has a mandate to broaden and deepen the spheres of cooperation between the countries of Southeast Asia and the United States, particularly the implementation of the outcome of the Leaders’ Meetings, the directives of Foreign Ministers issued during the annual Post-Ministerial Conference session with the United States, and the Plan of Action to Implement ASEAN-US Enhanced Partnership, DFA said.
It is possible the US$ 434-million Millennium Challenge Compact agreement between the Philippine government and the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corp. will be signed in New York, according to DFA.
The College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York, the alma mater of his late mother and former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, will the confer Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Medal to the current President. He is being recognized for “his extraordinary service as a public official.”
The college offers the Aquino scholarship which was created in honor of Corazon C. Aquino. Its Department of Modern Languages offers Filipino and it will soon put up a Filipino Studies program, according to DFA.
President Aquino is also scheduled to address the Council of Foreign Relations on Philippine-US relations and on the Philippine perspective of the current international affairs.
The Council is a leading US think-tank with such luminaries as former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell among its directors.
The President’s visit to the US will culminate in a Gala Dinner in San Francisco of the Philippine Development Forum (formerly known as the Ayala Foundation-USA) where he will deliver the keynote speech.
The DFA added that the Philippine President “will also seize the opportunities presented by his US trip to achieve his government’s priorities to attract investors, create jobs at home, alleviate poverty and modernize the country’s infrastructure” during the visit by meeting with American chief executive officers and top officials such as those of Coach, Luen Thai, IBM, JP Morgan, Sutherland, Automatic Data Processing and Hewlett Packard.
Mr. Aquino and his delegation will leave San Francisco on September 26 and is scheduled to arrive in Manila on September 28.