UN SecGen Guterres attending November ASEAN summit in Manila — Cayetano

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will join several world leaders that include US President Donald Trump for the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit to be held in Manila in November, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Thursday.

“The UN Sec Gen has confirmed and the EU and Canada  have been asked and have been invited as friends of the Chair,” Cayetano said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the other hand, are skipping the Manila summit and will instead send their prime minister or premier - Dmitry Medvedev for Russia and Li Keqiang for China - to the meeting, Cayetano said.

As a diplomatic practice, Putin and Xi only attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and skip the ASEAN’s East Asia Summit or EAS, usually held back-to-back with the regional bloc’s meetings.

This year’s APEC summit will be held in Da Nang, Vietnam on Nov. 10-11, while the ASEAN and EAS will be on Nov. 12-14.

The EAS, a regional forum for strategic dialogue and cooperation on key challenges facing the East Asian region, groups the 10 ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam plus dialogue partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the United States and Russia.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also invited Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who, according to Cayetano, is “expected to come,” and European Council President Jean-Claude Juncker as friends of the chair.

The November summit – the last of the two ASEAN meetings to held in Manila –  will be the largest and most prestigious event that will be overseen by Duterte since he assumed the presidency in June 2016.

It is expected to be held under extra heavy security as it comes on the heels of the terrorist threats following the May 23 siege of Marawi City by IS-linked militants.

Duterte on Tuesday declared Marawi free from terrorist influence after two its leaders – Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute – were killed in a gunbattle on Oct. 16. —Michaela del Callar/RSJ, GMA News