Washington hopes for another Trump-Duterte meet

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warmly greet each other at the US Department of State on June 22, 2018 (Philippine time). Looking on are Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel G. Romualdez and Assistant Secretary for American Affairs Maria Lumen Isleta. (Photo courtesy of DFA-Office of Public Diplomacy)

MANILA — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is hoping for another meeting between President Rodrigo R. Duterte and US President Donald Trump as a follow-up to the ties the two leaders developed during the Philippines’ chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2017, a Philippine envoy said Friday. (Philippine time).

Philippine Ambassador in Washington DC Jose Manuel Romualdez bared that Pompeo noted that the two leaders were able to forge a “warm friendship” following the event.

Romualdez said that Pompeo made the revelation during his meeting with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who was in the US with National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.

Trump and Duterte met in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in November.

Romualdez, however, did not disclose details whether further talks transpired.

Meanwhile, the envoy said the President wrote a personal letter congratulating Trump on the successful US-North Korea Summit in Singapore. The letter was delivered by Cayetano when he met with his counterpart.

“The Secretary told Secretary Pompeo the Philippines views the current developments in the Korean peninsula with optimism and that the Philippines is hoping the positive momentum generated by the Singapore Summit will bode well for the broader Asia-Pacific region,”said Romualdez.

On June 12, Trump and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un renewed ties in a historic summit in Singapore, where the latter committed to the denuclearization of North Korea.