MANILA — United States President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah left Manila Tuesday afternoon after attending their engagements in the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Summits.
The President of the United States’ Air Force One departed from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway around 3:26 p.m.
This is the first presidential visit of Trump to the Philippines — and Manila is also the last leg of his Asian tour, following his trips in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam.
Trump attended the East Asia Summit and the 5th ASEAN-Summit to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations.
He also had bilateral talks with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, that boosted close ties between the Philippines and US.
On the other hand, Trudeau left an hour after Trump, also at NAIA.
In a press briefing this afternoon, the Canadian Prime Minister answered questions on the 103 container vans of trash that were illegally shipped by a private company to the Philippines in 2013.
It was the same issue that was thrown to Trudeau during his visit here in 2015 for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
He said the Canadian government had initially addressed its own regulations to make it “theoretically possible” to get back the garbage that was shipped here.
Moreover, Trudeau became the apple of the eye among visiting world leaders as he stopped by a known local fast-food chain and approached the crowd on the tarmac when he arrived at the Clark International Airport as well as being selfie-ready after his press briefing.
Meanwhile, Bolkiah departed from NAIA at around 4:45 p.m.
Bolkiah and Duterte also had their bilateral meeting where the concerns in the Korean Peninsula were raised, noting that China “holds the key in resolving” the rising tension.
Duterte recognized the strong relations between the Philippines and Brunei and vowed to further strengthen it in the years ahead.
The Chief Executive also praised Sultan Bolkiah for his “extraordinary service to humanity” extending his gratitude for Brunei’s help when the Philippines was hit by natural disasters. PNA-northboundasia.com