PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. will not attend a key summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Peru, since he would be busy with domestic concerns, the presidential palace said on Thursday.
He would skip the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit — scheduled from Nov. 10-16 in Peru because he “prioritizes domestic concerns, including government responses to calamities,” Presidential Communications Secretary Cesar B. Chavez said in a Viber message.
Mr. Marcos as designated Trade Acting Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque as the special envoy to the summit, the palace said.
In the summit, leaders, ministers and senior officials of the 21 APEC members, which account for half of global trade and 60% of world gross domestic product, will discuss trade and globalization policies.
The APEC members are the US, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
