Philippines understands Kerry's cancellation of trip to Manila

The Philippines understood the sudden decision of US Secretary of State John Kerry to cancel his trip to Manila this week due to a major typhoon that is epxected to hit the country, a senior government official said Thursday. Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said that Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Kerry announced the cancellation of the latter's visit to Manila on October 11-12 at a joint press conference in Brunei on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. She said that the two officials announced that Kerry's trip to the country will be rescheduled anytime before the end of the year. "We understand and look forward to his visit at a future date," Valte said in a text message to reporters. Kerry's trip to Manila was supposed to be a substitution for U. S. President Barack Obama who cancelled his Asian trip due to the American government shutdown for failure to pass its budget on time. Manila was supposed to be the last leg of Kerry's trip to four southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.