Kerry’s Phl visit postponed

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – US State Secretary John Kerry yesterday called off his planned visit to the Philippines due to an approaching typhoon.

Kerry and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario jointly announced the postponement of the visit on the sidelines of the 23rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit here, adding that President Aquino had been informed about it.

Kerry said the US Air Force advised him to postpone the visit. He expressed his wish for the safety of Filipinos as a major typhoon heads to Manila.

Kerry was scheduled to meet with Philippine officials today and tomorrow.

“The strength of our relationship, the bilateral ties that we have that are literally unbreakable and my own personal connections to the Philippines is the reason why I was enormously looking forward to going back,” he said.

“I’m sorry not to be there in the next day or so. But the good news is I am absolutely committed to returning within a month or so as I am coming back to the region and I’m looking forward to visiting our friends in the Philippines and I am very grateful to President Aquino and to the foreign minister for their understanding of the situation,” he added.

Kerry said there were plans for him to visit Vietnam later this year and he would include the Philippines “if it works for you.”

“It works for us. We will really look forward to it,” Del Rosario for his part, said.

The DFA chief said they regret the postponement of Kerry’s visit to Manila, but is looking forward to meeting him before the end of the year.

“We have a plan to meet and discuss the many bilateral issues, these are not issues actually but we want to use this opportunity to further advance our alliance and our strategic partnership,” he said.

The White House said Kerry was to take the place of US President Barack Obama, who cancelled his trip to Southeast Asia due to the US government shutdown. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Delon Porcalla