THERE’S a big possibility that the diplomatic relations between the United States and Philippines will have a “reboot” following a telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, a Palace official said Sunday.
Duterte and Trump had a 10-minute phone conversation Friday night, when they tackled several issues.
“The conversation between President Duterte and President-elect Donald Trump went very well and it showed that there is a big possibility that we will have a reboot of relationship between the PH and United States,” presidential spokesman Martin Andanar told dzRB radio.
“President Duterte told us he and President-elect Donald Trump could get along well and again Trump wished the President well in his campaign against illegal drugs.”
Duterte said Trump would support the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs and that he respected the country’s sovereignty.
Duterte said Trump commended him for conducting his brutal war on drugs “the right way.”
“He wished me well, too, in my campaign, and he said that, well, we are doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way,” Duterte said.
Since he took office in June more than 2,000 people have been killed by policemen and vigilantes.
He had invoked the Holocaust to defend his war on drugs. “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts,” he said in September. “I’d be happy to slaughter them.”
His tactics have prompted criticism from leaders in the United States and United Nations.
When US President Barack Obama said he planned to discuss the anti-drug campaign in scheduled talks with the Philippine president, Duterte called him “a son of a bitch.”