MANILA — Retired defense chiefs from Southeast Asia paid a courtesy call on President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Wednesday, January 17.
“I’d like to welcome you all. It’s an honor to be in the midst of people who have a strong knowledge of what is the condition of our world today,” the President told the Pinnacle Club of ASEAN during their meeting at the Study Room of Malacañang Palace.
The Chief Executive noted that he has seen how the retired officials worked and how they have contributed to the welfare of ASEAN.
The Pinnacle Club of ASEAN, formalized in 2014, is an informal grouping of retired defense chiefs and service chiefs in Southeast Asia, which aims to provide a social platform for the gathering of retired defense chiefs and other influential officials related to the security and defense of the region.
The Club and its network of members can also serve to promote the good relations in Southeast Asia through the various activities organized by the Secretariat, Stratagem Group.
The President was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Department of Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, among others.
Present in the meeting are retired officials from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Brunei, and Philippines. (PNA)