He is expected to arrive at 8 p.m. Sunday at San Francisco airport. He and members of his delegation will be welcomed by Consul General Marciano Paynor Jr., Philippine Consulate General, San Francisco.


From San Francisco, the President will take a private jet to New York at around 9 p.m. and is expected to arrive at Teterboro airport in New York at around 5:45 a.m., Monday.


He will be welcomed by Ambassador Libran Cabactulan, Philippine permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, and Consul General Mario De Leon Jr., Philippine Consulate General in New York.


President Aquino will start his activity on Monday by attending the conferment rites at 1 p.m. given to him by Fordham, an independent university in the Jesuit tradition that was founded in 1841.


The President will be conferred Doctor of Laws degree, Honoris Causa, by Fordham University during a ceremony at the Keating Hall in the school’s Rose Hill campus in Bronx, New York.


It will be witnessed by Filipino and Filipino-American students, Fordham’s faculty, alumni and staff, Filipino community members, Filipino staff members in the United Nations, and Filipinos and Fil-Ams in the academe, business, media and civil society organizations.


Prior to the conferment ceremony, President Aquino will be escorted to the building step named after his mother, the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, who also received an honorary degree from Fordham in September 1986.


As part of Fordham tradition, the names of over 30 world leaders conferred honorary doctorate degree are carved on the steps of the “Terrace of the Presidents” at Keating Hall.


The President’s name will be carved next to that of his mother, the late President Aquino.


After the conferment ceremony, President Aquino will have a series of business meetings, first with Convergys at Berkshires Hotel and to be followed by Fiesta Equities Corp. and Ami Vita Coco.


On the same day, the President will have a roundtable meeting with high level business executives belonging to the US-Asean Business Council, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce.


The US-Asean Business Council is the trusted voice of the US private sector in the 10-country Asean market while the US Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses.


The Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce Inc., on the other hand, is one of the oldest bilateral chambers in the United States. It was founded in 1920 by Dr. H. Parker Willis, editor of the Journal of Commerce. (PNA)
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Source: Philippine News Agency

Aquino receives honorary degree from Fordham University