PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte turns 73 years old today and will celebrate his birthday in his home city of Davao—with no “lavish” party, according to the President’s trusted and close aide Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go.
In his statement, Go said the President was not keen on having a lavish birthday party even when he was still Mayor of Davao City.
“Mayor Rody will be celebrating his birthday at home, with his family,” Go said.
Go’s statement coincided with greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping who extended his “sincere congratulations and best wishes” while extolling the improvement in the bilateral relations since Duterte ascended to the presidency in 2016.
Presidential Communications and Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar wished that President Duterte be blessed more, and appealed to the public to pause for one day, to render to the President, the honor and the gratitude deserving of a leader.
Andanar described the President as “a man for every people, whom he vowed to serve and to make peace the bedrock platform for the country’s progress.”
In his message, Andanar said “a grateful people celebrate his seventy-third year and pray that he be blessed for more.”©”©
“Governance comes in many forms. President Duterte began by circumventing the layers of an inherited dysfunctional past, a difficult, ongoing task of cleansing; and major progress has been done. He immediately set to motion the fundamentals of the economy barely a month after his proclamation. Employment was prioritized and protected for both local and foreign-based workers.”
“Prayers from his well-wishers during his birthday would surely make him very happy,” Go added.
“Over the past year, the China-Philippines relations have experienced a turnaround and are being further consolidated and deepened. Our bilateral relations have enjoyed ongoing betterment and improvement and reaped productive outcomes, which brought tangible benefits to our two peoples and promoted peace and stability of the region,” Xi said.
He added: “We have met with each other on quite a few occasions and we reached important consensus on advancing China-Philippines relations and deepening practical cooperation, and set the course for the future growth of our bilateral relations.
“I attach great significance to the growth of China-Philippines relations, and stand ready to work with you to carry forward sustained and in-depth growth of China-Philippines relations and bring about more benefits to our countries and peoples.”
President Duterte is expected to visit China next month to attend the Boao Forum for Asia’s annual conference.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China welcomed Duterte’s upcoming trip, saying it would further promote the development ties between Manila and Beijing.
As part of the frequent high level exchanges between Beijing and Manila, Xi and Duterte met twice last year.
Wang revealed that the two countries agreed to boost dialogue and cooperation on maritime affairs and advance cooperation in areas such as the exploitation of oil and gas.
With regard to cooperation under the auspices of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese foreign minister said Beijing was willing to work more with Manila and boost the synergy in their development strategies to better benefit their people.Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the China-Philippines relations were in a “golden era” and the dialogue between the two countries should be continued.
Despite their differences, particularly in the South China Sea disputes, the two countries will advance their cooperation in areas including security, Cayetano said.
In August, the Philippines will take the chair of the coordinating country moderating ties between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
China will work with the Philippines government to ensure the success of several events, such as the commemoration of the 15th anniversary of China-Asean strategic partnership.
China is now the Philippines’ largest trade partner, largest source of imports and its fourth-largest export destination. Bilateral trade reached $51 billion last year.
It also becomes the Philippines second largest source of foreign visitors, and close to one million trips were made by Chinese to the country last year.