Duterte to visit Brunei, Indonesia next month

MANILA, Philippines -- President Rodrigo Duterte will visit Brunei and Indonesia before and after his participation at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit next month.

 

The plight of overseas Filipino workers will be the president’s main agenda on his trip to Brunei on Sept. 4.

 

“A lot of Filipinos are working there so one is thank him (Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah) for taking care of the Filipinos and providing jobs,” Duterte told reporters Tuesday in Malacanang.

 

Duterte will then proceed to Vientiane in Laos for the ASEAN leaders’ meet from Sept. 5 to 7. During the event, the ASEAN chairmanship will be turned over to the Philippines, which will host the event next year.

 

Asked if he would raise the South China Sea arbitration ruling during the regional bloc’s meet, Duterte said: “I don’t think so. It could not be. But if somebody dwells on it we will discuss.”

 

He said, though, that “for the Philippines, we have talks. If you disregard the bilateral (talks), where will we go? Better to continually engage China in a diplomatic dialogue rather than anger officials there and they cut (ties) completely.”

 

Duterte noted that severing ties with China would have an impact on maritime security as well as the livelihood of local fishermen.

 

“It’s about time (that we) consider returning the privilege of Filipinos who fish there,” the president said.

 

In 2013, the Philippines questioned the legality of China’s territorial claim, which covers about 90 percent of the South China Sea. China’s sweeping territorial claim is being contested by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan.

 

Last month, a Hague-based tribunal declared that China’s so-called nine-dash-line claim has no legal basis but the Chinese government has refused to recognize the ruling.

 

After the ASEAN meet, Duterte is expected to embark on a two-day visit to Indonesia.

 

Duterte, however, declined to say if he would discuss the case of Filipina migrant worker Mary Jane Veloso with Indonesian officials.

 

“I will not speculate on that. I’d rather be private about these things. These are sensitive,” the president said.

 

Veloso was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in 2010. She was supposed to be executed April last year but was given a reprieve after her trafficker surrendered to Philippine authorities. She has said that she was not aware she was transporting drugs when apprehended in the Yogyakarta airport in 2010.

 

Duterte has been pushing for a revival of the death penalty, especially in cases involving drugs. It is among the priority pieces of legislation for the 17th Congress.