P-Noy going to Cambodia for Asean Summit

By Delon Porcalla

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino will be spending the first few days of Holy Week attending the 20th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia but will be back in Manila for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

He told reporters over the weekend in Baguio City that he still has to inspect all ports – airports, seaports and bus terminals – and check on possible weather disturbances during the Holy Week, a period when residents of Metro Manila usually go out of town.

Aquino is also scheduled to go on state visits to Australia and New Zealand, as well as a visit to Washington sometime in May, upon the invitation of US President Obama, which was coursed through Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visited the country last November.

Obama himself extended the invitation to Aquino also last November, when they both attended the East Asia Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard extended her invitation to Aquino when they met at the last APEC meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii in November 2011 where they held bilateral talks.

Also included in President Aquino’s itinerary for this year is England, where there is “substantial investment in energy.”

Aquino hinted he may have to go directly to the United Kingdom after the Washington state visit.