President Rodrigo Duterte is indeed an unpredictable person because while he left the Philippines angry, he shows another side of him at the ASEAN Summit in Laos.
The unpredictable President Rodrigo Duterte shows another side of him as he attends to the 13th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business and Investment Summit 2016 in Laos.
While he left angrily on Monday, the Philippines’ 16th chief executive officer was seen “diplomatic and formal” as he participated in the forum’s activities.
In his speech, Duterte did not speak his “expletives” or cursing that he usually does in press briefings and press conferences everytime he make rounds and attend ceremonies in the country.
In his address, President Duterte emphasized the need to counter the threats of transnational crimes in the region. The threats include illegal drugs, terrorism, trafficking in persons and violent extremism.
He reiterated the need to strengthen intelligence sharing to deter the threats and attacks of rebel groups and the proliferation in the region.
Aside from the Philippines, illegal drugs is also a big threat in Thailand, Indonesia and even in the host-country Laos.
In the first day of the ASEAN Summit, Duterte was also dubbed as a “rockstar” because the international media, and even other world leaders, flock just to have photo ops with him.
Despite of Duterte’s offensive words against the American president and the latter’s refusal to hold a meeting with him in the sidelines of the ASEAN forum meeting, Digong was still holding grip of popularity.
Other ASEAN member-nations leaders even posed Duterte’s signature closed fist gesture for picture-taking.
US President Barack Obama described Duterte as a “colorful guy” because of his changing tones in his statements. The Filipino head was insulting Obama before he left for Laos but upon his arrival, he said that the Philippines is not waging war against the US which is the world’s most powerful nation.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admitted that he himself was excited to see Duterte personally because the Filipino leader is already famous in Japan.
I AM NOT DEFENDING PRESIDENT DUTERTE ON HIS REMARKS ON PRESIDENT OBAMA, BECAUSE I LOOK @ IT LIKE JUST A COMMON EXPRESSION . IN THE PHILIPPINES. YOU CAN SAY IT IN A WAY OF JOKING OR IF YOU ARE ANGRY . BUT WHEN DUTERTE UTTERED THE WORDS IT IS JUST A COMMON EXPRESSION ON THAT TIME WHEN HE WAS TALKING ABOUT OTHER NATIONS WHO ARE INTERFERING ON HIS GOAL TO STOP DRUGS IN THE PHILIPPINES.. BUT BECAUSE OTHER COUNTRIES ARE NOT USE TO THIS KIND OF LANGUAGE ESPECIALLY IN THE WESTERN WORLD SO THEY MAKE IT A BIG DEAL, WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE. GLAD THAT DUTERTE APOLOGIZED AND MAYBE HE LEARNED HIS LESSON TOO.