Duterte blames ‘jet lag’ for skipping Apec socials

LIMA, Peru — “Jet lag” did President Duterte in during his first appearance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit here, forcing him to skip both the gala dinner and traditional family photo of the world leaders.

The President said he was still feeling “lightheaded” as the scheduled activities happened to coincide with his sleeping times back home.

READ: Duterte ‘falls ill,’ skips Apec gala dinner for world leaders

“I sleep at 3:45 [a.m.]. That’s the time here. I really couldn’t keep my eyes open. And even [though] I was listening to others, my eyes start to close on their own,” Mr. Duterte told reporters covering the Apec in this South American country.

“I said it’s not good to be present with the greats of the convention with my eyes closed. So I said I better go home. But I also couldn’t sleep though I was sleepy. Jet lag, simply,” he said.

Mr. Duterte sent Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay to stand in for him in the two events.

“I was not able to attend the socials because I wanted the Secretary of Foreign Affairs…I wanted to promote his acting career,” he joked.

But the President said the events he did attend were eye-opening and fruitful.

“Yes, I said I could just say it in a few words. It was a productive one, very informative for me being a first-timer in this kind of meeting,” Mr. Duterte said.

He said Russia and China, along with Vietnam, were the countries that expressed the most eagerness to engage the Philippines in discussions.

Mr. Duterte said he had no opportunity to interact with US President Barack Obama, who was attending his last international conference abroad before turning over the reins to President-elect Donald Trump in January.

“No. I was not looking around,” he said, adding that he was poring through one of the Apec reading materials when Obama came in. CBB