Duterte visited all member-countries barely a year into his term

The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states have been arriving in the Philippines for the 30th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Manila.

President Rodrigo Duterte is barely a year into his six-year term but has previously met all ASEAN leaders.

Only months into his incumbency, Duterte was able to visit all nine ASEAN co-member states and meet their respective leaders.

This is unprecedented.

GMA News Research looked into the foreign trips of all post-martial law Philippine presidents and learned that Duterte was the first to visit all ASEAN member countries within the first year as head of state.

Besides the Philippines, the other ASEAN member states are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

Past presidents

Aside from Duterte, only one other president was able to visit all the ASEAN member states. His predecessor, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, had been to all nine ASEAN countries, although not all trips were made within his first year in office.

While former presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also had their own trips to ASEAN member states, all of them skipped a country or two.

There were only six ASEAN member-countries during the time of Cory Aquino from 1986 to 1992. She was able to visit three of them in her first year: Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. She did not visit Thailand and Malaysia during her incumbency.

Ramos was able to visit Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei during his first year as president and Indonesia in his second year. He visited Myanmar in October 1997, three months after the country’s inclusion to the roster of ASEAN member states.

Ramos skipped Laos. He was also able to visit Cambodia and Vietnam, but they were not yet ASEAN members then. Cambodia was the last country to become an ASEAN member, in 1999. Vietnam became a member in 1995, but Ramos visited the country in March 1994. Ramos was president from 1992 to 1998.

During Estrada’s short-lived incumbency, he was able to visit six ASEAN countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Vietnam. Estrada was not able to finish his term; he was the chief executive from 1998 to 2001. He was replaced by then Vice President Arroyo after the second EDSA revolution in January 2001.
Arroyo was able to visit seven ASEAN countries during her almost-a-decade incumbency: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam and Cambodia.

She did not go to Myanmar and Laos.

More than once

During his visits, Duterte was able to hold one-on-one meetings with the respective leaders of the ASEAN countries. He also had sideline meetings with some of the leaders during the ASEAN summit in Laos last year.

Duterte had met two ASEAN prime ministers twice already.

He had a bilateral meeting with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Laos during the ASEAN summit in September 2016. Duterte also met Lee during his state visit to Singapore last December.

Duterte also had a bilateral meeting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during the ASEAN summit in Laos. Phuc also met Duterte during his visit to Vietnam last September.

Making the rounds

From September to December last year, Duterte was out of the country at least once a month for state or official visits.

The ASEAN summit in Laos last September was Duterte’s first foreign trip as president. During that summit, the Philippines accepted ASEAN chairmanship for 2017.

While in Laos, Duterte also paid a courtesy visit to Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachit and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith.

After his Laos trip, Duterte proceeded to Indonesia for a working visit. He met Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who even toured Duterte in Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta. Joko and Duterte also had a bilateral meeting during the visit.

Also in September last year, not even a month after his trip to Laos and Indonesia, Duterte made an official visit to Vietnam. Besides his courtesy call with Prime Minister Phuc, Duterte also met with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.

In October, weeks after his Vietnam trip, Duterte went to Brunei Darussalam for a state visit.

Duterte’s state visit to Brunei was supposed to be his first trip outside the Philippines as president. The trip, originally scheduled on September 4, was cancelled after an explosion rocked Davao City a couple of days before his supposed departure.

During his state visit, Duterte met with Brunei Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.
Before a two-day official visit to Malaysia in November 2016, Duterte went to Thailand for a quick stop to pay respects to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He would return to Thailand months later for an official visit.

In Malaysia, Duterte had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Najib Rajak.
In his December 2016 trip, Duterte was able to visit two ASEAN countries: Cambodia and Singapore.

While in Cambodia, Duterte was welcomed in a state banquet by the King of Cambodia, His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Duterte and Hun Sen also had a bilateral meeting during the visit.

In Singapore, Duterte met not only Prime Minister Lee, but also Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

By March this year, Duterte was able to visit all the ASEAN member states with his official trips to Myanmar and Thailand.

While in Myanmar, he held a bilateral meeting with President Htin Kyaw. He was also able to meet Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Myanmar State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

From Myanmar, Duterte went to Thailand, where he met with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Duterte also had an audience with Filipino communities during his trips in these countries.

As of date, Duterte has been on nine trips overseas spanning 16 countries including non-ASEAN nations such as China, Japan, Peru, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. He has spent 38 days away from the country. —ALG, GMA News