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President Gloria Arroyo had a “technical
stopover” in Cartagena, Colombia, before proceeding to her state
visit to Brazil—and there was nothing wrong with it—Executive
Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday.
He added that he received
information that the President stopped in Colombia because of
technical issues.
Reporters asked Ermita about
proposals made about making the President disclose her foreign
itinerary the next time she traveled, and he said that would not be
necessary. Plus, doing so might compromise the President’s safety
and security, he added.
Earlier this week in radio
interview, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the trip from Los
Angeles to Recife City in Pernambuco, Brazil, was long, and the
pilots needed to rest and to refuel the aircraft.
Remonde added that President
Arroyo and her husband, lawyer Jose Miguel Arroyo, took the
opportunity to visit Filipino businessman Jaime Augusto Zobel de
Ayala and his family, who had invited the Arroyos to their house in
Cartagena.
Mrs. Arroyo flew to Los Angeles
on June 20 to meet the Filipino community after her three-day
official visit to Japan from June 17 to 20. The President and her
entourage are scheduled to return to Manila on Saturday.
--Angelo S. Samonte
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