US Apologized for The Inverted Philippine Flag - ASEAN-US meeting

The Philippine flag could be seen inverted during the leaders’ meeting of the US and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in New York Saturday morning (Manila Time).

The photograph of the inverted flag with President Aquino at the right sitting beside US President Barack Obama (center) is still available at the Official Gazette of the Philippines. Photo credit to Jay Morales.

Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office informed the US Embassy in the Philippines of the incident. The embassy then promptly issued its statement explaining that the display of the inverted flag was an "honest mistake" although it did not explicitly apologize for the incident.

"This was an honest mistake. The US treasures its close relationship and close partnership with the Philippines which were demonstrated this past week during President Aquino’s trip to the US, with the signing of the MCC Compact, the US-ASEAN meeting, and the meeting of our two Presidents that followed it," US Embassy in Manila spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said in a short statement.

Category: News