Philippine Asian News Today Vol 18 No 21 | Page 23

November 1 - 15, 2016

PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY

A23

Trump may be good for Philippines,
says congressman
A member of the
House of Representatives
in the Philippines is hoping
that their common traits
will bring together President
Rodrigo Duterte and U.S.
president-elect
Donald
Trump, according to an
ABS-CBN report.
ABS-CBN
reported
that Kabayan Party-list
congressman Harry Roque
believes that this will help
to smoothen the two
countries’ relationship.
Roque said a Trump
leadership “can be good”
for the Philippines because
the
two
presidents’
temperaments are alike.
“I think because of
the personality similarities
between President Trump
and President Duterte
— among others their
penchant for politically
incorrect i.e. sexist jokes —
they could actually end up
being best friends,” Roque
said on ABS-CBN’s “Future
Perfect” by ANC.
Trump, a real-estate
mogul, was elected the

45th president of the US
in a stunning win against
Hillary Clinton.
The
relationship
between the Philippines
and the U.S. has been testy
under current American
President Barrack Obama.
In a speech last
October, Duterte said that
Obama ‘can go to hell’,
and that he is considering
to break up with U.S.
Duterte was reacting
to the U.S. government’s
criticism of his deadly antidrug campaign.
He also lashed out
anew at the European
Union, saying the bloc,
which has also criticized his
brutal crackdown, “better
choose purgatory, hell is
filled up”.
Since
becoming
president in June, Duterte
has had an uneasy
relationship with the U.S.
and with Obama.
Duterte has declared
intentions
to
bolster
relations with China and
Russia as he revamps
Philippine foreign policy that

has long leaned
on Washington.
I
n
Wa s h i n g t o n ,
White
House
spokesman Josh
Earnest said the
U.S. had not
received
any
official
request
from
Duterte
or
any
other
Philippine official
to
alter
any
aspect of bilateral
cooperation.
“This is an
alliance that is
robust and that benefits
both of our countries,”
Earnest said. “Even as we
protect this strong alliance,
the administration and the
United States of America
will not hesitate to raise our
concerns about extrajudicial
killings. We remain deeply
concerned by reports of
widespread
extrajudicial
killings by or at the behest
of government authorities
in the Philippines. The
use of that kind of tactic is
entirely inconsistent with

universal human rights and
the shared values of our
two countries.”
In
the
ABS-CBN
report, Roque said that the
parallels between Duterte
and Trump are “good for
the Philippines because
there is definitely poli tical
difference between Duterte
and the US now, which
could be probably assuaged
by personal friendships”.
Trump
used
a
populist agenda to win
the presidency, similar to

WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM

Duterte.
Roque said voters
nowadays are also looking
for politicians who do not
fit the mold of “traditional
politics.”
“Apparently,
voters
everywhere and anywhere
are tired of traditional
politicians. They want
someone who doesn’t fit
the traditional (mold). They
want someone who curses,
who is politically incorrect,
someone who says the
wrong things to shock,” he
said.