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Palace: Duterte may be persuaded to attend Trump-ASEAN Summit in US

The Palace isn’t certain if President Rodrigo Duterte would accept or reject the invitation of US President Donald Trump in Las Vegas for the US-ASEAN Summit in March.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo was quoted in a report by Radyo Pilipinas in saying that he will still have to talk to Duterte about this.
Although President Duterte has already declined the invitation of President Trump because of the cold weather there, he may be encouraged to join them as other leaders of the ASEAN countries will be there.
Meanwhile, Senator Leila de Lima says it is still a prerogative of the US President to extend anew a standing invitation.
“In my humble view, the reported invitation of US President Trump to President Duterte simply means that the US Government is not yet implementing the entry ban as this could still be undergoing some internal process,” says De Lima in a letter published on her social media accounts.
She added that the invitation does not affect the implementation of the Global Magnitsky Act, which includes the Prohibition on Entry provision.
However, the Palace emphasized that the discretion on implementing such prohibition is still up to the executive branch.
Read more: Trump invites Duterte for special ASEAN meeting in the US

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