Aquino to visit Cebu before US

MANILA, Philippines - Before he leaves for the United States, President Aquino would visit Cebu City, one of the vote-rich provinces that helped him win in the elections.

Secretary for Operations Herminio Coloma said Mr. Aquino would visit the city on Sept. 15 upon the request of local business groups. He leaves for the US on Sept. 19.

“The President thought it would be good to communicate with our investors especially when the economy has been good during the first half,” Coloma said in Filipino.

During his visit to the US, Mr. Aquino would address the 65th United Nations General Assembly and meet with heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He would also be the coordinator for the 2nd ASEAN-US Leaders Meeting in New York, the Philippines being the designated Country Coordinator for ASEAN-US Dialogue relations for the period of 2009 to 2012.

The leaders meeting will also provide an opportunity for President Aquino to meet with US President Barack Obama.

The $434-million Millennium Challenge Compact agreement between the Philippine government and the Millennium Challenge Corp. is also expected to be signed in New York. He will likewise meet with executives of major firms in New York and San Francisco to encourage them to invest in the country. These firms are are Coach, Luen Thai, IBM, JP Morgan, Sutherland, Automatic Data Processing and Hewlett Packard.