Manila, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that he will not attend the summit between the United States and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Las Vegas in March.
“I think by this time our foreign office must have advised Thailand that I am not going,” Duterte told reporters, Xinhua reported.
Thailand was last year’s chair of the ASEAN meetings.
Experts said Duterte’s decision was possibly triggered by the US cancellation of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa’s US visa on account of his involvement in the anti-drug war.
