U.S. secretary of state to visit Philippines next week

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit the country next week for talks with top Philippine officials that are expected to include human rights issues in the country, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.

Clinton, who announced the visit in Washington, said she will be in Manila from Nov.12 to Nov. 13 before joining U.S. President Barack Obama in Singapore for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit where he will make an inaugural appearance.

"We welcome the announcement made by the U.S. State Department that Secretary Hillary Clinton will be visiting the Philippines on Nov. 12-13 before the APEC Summit in Singapore," the DFA said in a statement released on Saturday.

This will be Clinton's first visit to the Philippines as U.S. Secretary of State.

"During her visit to the Philippines, Clinton will be making a courtesy call on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and will meet with her Philippine counterpart Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo," the statement said.

Commenting on the visit, Secretary Romulo says: "This visit by Secretary Clinton is a good opportunity for the Philippine and U.S. governments to have substantial discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest disaster management, the Mindanao peace process, climate change, and nuclear non-proliferation."

Source:Xinhua