New Philippine Leader Cancels Indonesia, Vietnam Trips

Manila (News Today) - New Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday he had cancelled his planned first overseas trip as leader to Indonesia and Vietnam in keeping with his vow of austerity. Aquino had planned an overnight visit to Indonesia next month before flying to Vietnam, part of a largely ceremonial round of visits traditionally carried out by newly elected leaders to neighbouring countries.

He said he now intended to meet his Indonesian and Vietnamese counterparts in Hanoi along with the other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the 10-nation group’s next summit on October 28.

“In keeping with our promise to be more judicious in the way we spend the people’s money, especially (with) the fact that we have very little left, I felt it was prudent to have one (Asian) trip rather than two,” he said.

However Aquino said the change of plans also came after the Indonesian government advised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono could only receive him in October. Aquino told reporters his first foreign trip as president would now be to a United Nations summit on September 20, after which he would also attend the signing of a US grant package to the Philippines.

Aquino, who won May presidential elections by a landslide, has sought to portray himself as the opposite of predecessor Gloria Arroyo. One of her sins was to waste taxpayers’ money through frequent foreign trips, according to her critics.

Source : kompas

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