Noy off to South Korea today for Asean meet

MANILA, Philippines - Despite a cold and nasal congestion, President Aquino is set to attend the two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Republic of Korea commemorative summit in Busan, South Korea.

Members of the Cabinet will send off Aquino as he departs for Busan at 9 a.m. at Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. He will be joined by other members of the Cabinet on a Philippine Airlines chartered flight.

Aquino will leave Gumhae Air Base in Busan at 5:40 p.m. on Dec. 12, and is expected to arrive in Manila at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.

While he confirmed his attendance in the ASEAN -Korea summit when he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing as well as the ASEAN summit in Myanmar recently, Aquino backed out at the last minute from attending the event.

Aquino, however, was apparently prevailed upon by the Korean government to push through with the visit, especially since there has not been much damage brought about by Typhoon Ruby that battered several provinces in the Visayas.

Aquino and other ASEAN leaders are expected to deliver their respective country statements on the theme “Building Trust, Bringing Happiness.”

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said the event would allow the regional bloc to explore fields of cooperation “for the pursuit of our shared prosperity.”

Aquino is expected to have a bilateral meeting today with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who will host a welcome dinner and cultural performance to welcome the ASEAN leaders.

Two commemorative summits that will review ASEAN-ROK cooperation will be held tomorrow. The summit will tackle the future direction of the relationship and non-traditional issues like disaster risk management and climate change.

Aquino will also attend sideline events like an exhibition on Korean traditional arts and crafts and a special exhibition on public governance.

Fighter jets

Aquino will also have a meeting with the chief executive officer of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) company that will supply the 12 lead-in fighter trainer jets to the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

The Philippine government is in the process of purchasing FA-50 jets worth P18.9 billion to train members of the PAF. This was raised when Aquino and Park met in October 2013 during the former’s state visit to Korea.

Aquino told newsmen who covered his two-day state visit to South Korea that President Park already gave the go-signal for the Philippines’ purchase of 12 fighter jets for the upgrading of the capabilities of PAF.

“Both sides agreed to try and expedite the purchase and delivery of these planes,” he told Manila-based reporters at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, after Manila and Seoul signed a memorandum of agreement on defense cooperation.

The last time PAF had combat jets was in 2005, and these were old F-5 fighter planes.

“The purpose of this lead-in fighter is to maintain our ability to fly jets, at least for the Air Force to fly jets,” he said.

The P18.9 billion for the purchase of the jets will be charged to the AFP Modernization Act.

Aquino said this is a “government-to-government” procurement, and came about after Korea offered several models until the negotiations ended and the jet of “preference” is this country’s “lead-in fighter” – FA-50s.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, who was present at the MOU signing, said this “will give a significant boost to the continuing modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”

“The President said the agreement creates opportunities for expanding and strengthening the long-standing partnership between the two countries. He expressed appreciation for the imminent transfer of FA-50 combat jets,” he said.

Coloma said Philippines will also purchase several more such aircraft, as well as vessels, armored vehicles and command-and-control equipment to boost the defense capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in protecting the country’s maritime territory.