MANILA // The Philippine president, who has been hostile to Barack Obama for criticising his deadly anti-drug crackdown, has congratulated Donald Trump for a “well-deserved victory” and said he is excited to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin at an upcoming Asia-Pacific summit.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been criticised for his foul language and the drug crackdown, gave upbeat remarks about the president-elect and Mr Putin late Tuesday.
Asked whether his ties with America can improve under Mr Trump, Mr Duterte replied: “I’m sure, we have no quarrel. I can always be a friend to anybody, specially to a ... president, chief executive of another country.”
Mr Duterte, who has been compared to Mr Trump due to his devil-may-care irreverence to rivals and critics, said the US president-elect was “the chosen leader of the people of the most powerful country in the world”.
“I trust in his judgment,” said Mr Duterte, adding he expected Mr Trump to be fair in dealing with illegal immigrants. Filipinos make up one of the largest expatriate groups in the US.
Mr Duterte, 71, has had a frosty relationship with Mr Obama and the US since they spoke out against his anti-drug war that is thought to have left more than 4,000 drug suspects dead since July. At the height of his public outbursts, he announced his “separation” with America, his country’s treaty ally, and has publicly vowed to stop joint combat drills with the US military and scale back other security engagements with Washington.
The Philippines military said on Wednesday that Filipino and US troops began training exercises this week, despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s threats to end joint war games and kick American soldiers out of his country as he edges closer to Beijing.
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
