Instead of six days, President Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to China has been cut off to five days due to the postponement of his visit to a Chinese province.
The Chief Executive is supposed to inaugurate a college in Fujian Normal University that was built in honor of his mother, Soledad, about 850 miles away from the country’s capital. His Fujian visit will be moved instead to a “more appropriate time,” officials said.
Soledad Duterte, or Nanay Soling, Nanay Soling led the Yellow Friday Movement which opposed the Marcos administration in the 1970s. She is said to descend from Chinese immigrants from Fujian.
She was a public school teacher who received numerous awards for public service.
President Duterte, the eldest child of Nanay Soling who describes himself as “mama’s boy,” has told the public in his speeches about her mother’s activism and strictness.
Her mother forced him to kneel on mongo seeds as punishment, he said.
She died at the Davao Doctors Hospital on February 4, 2012 at the age of 95.
Five years after her death, real estate tycoon and billionaire Jose Kho (also known by his Chinese name Xu Ming Liang) provided $20 million to build Soledad College, according to FNU’s website.
Kho, an alumnus and vice-chairperson of FNU’s board of directors, also provided scholarships for the college.
Soledad College will be used for foreign students, Duterte announced on Aug. 6.
According to a report by ABS CBN News, the school has offered 50 scholarships to Filipino students interested in obtaining masters degrees in selected business and engineering courses.
Last March 26, the first master class of Soledad College was held.
Over 20,000 students are enrolled in FNU’s two campuses, the oldest university in the province.