His Excellency Prime Minister Peter O’Neill of Papua New Guinea arrived in Manila on Tuesday, May 15, for an Official Visit to the country, which will last until Thursday.

The Prime Minister arrived at 4:11 pm at the Villamor Airbase and was welcomed by Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.

Among those who welcomed Prime Minister O’Neill were Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto, Pasay City Rep. Emi Calixto-Rubiano and Navotas City Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by PNG Minister of Finance James Marape and Mr. Christopher Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer of the Papua New Guinea Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Authority.

Prime Minister O’Neill is set to have a bilateral meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte at the Malacañan Palace on Wednesday afternoon.

President Duterte will also be hosting a State Banquet in honor of Prime Minister O’Neill on Wednesday night in Malacañan.

Prime Minister O’Neill will cap off his visit to the country by touring the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. He will then proceed to Japan.

Papua New Guinea is this year’s chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

It will be recalled that President Duterte and Prime Minister O’Neill met last year at the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Prime Minister O’Neill also visited Manila during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November 2015. PND