DAVAO CITY—-Despite a US legislation banning entry of all Philippine officials supposedly behind the arrest and continued detention of Senator Leila de Lima, President Donald Trump invited President Rodrigo Duterte to attend the US-ASEAN Summit .
Duterte has been invited to visit the United States to attend a summit between the United States and the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The invitation was extended by Trump to Duterte and other nine leaders of the regional intergovernmental organization.
The summit is scheduled to be held on March 14, 2020 in Las Vegas.
The invitation was first conveyed during the ASEAN-US meeting at the ASEAN Summit and related summits in Bangkok last November.
The United States then reiterated its invitation through a letter dated January 9, 2020.
Aside from the special summit, President Duterte has been repeatedly invited by President Trump to visit the US including the White House. The long-standing invitation has been made since April 2017.
The meeting between Duterte and Trump is expected to reaffirm the longstanding alliance between the Philippines and US.
The invitation of the US came despite a recent US legislation banning entry of all Philippine officials supposedly behind the arrest and continued detention of Senator Leila de Lima.
