Panelo recalls Pompeo likening Duterte to Trump

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and US President Donald Trump discuss matters during a bilateral meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on November 13, 2017. KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo told the media on Friday, March 1, that United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once made a comparison between United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

“I remember when the President was talking about what he is doing for this country, pati iyong mga controversial na galaw niya, pati iyong cursing niya (even his controversial moves and his cursing), the Secretary of State said, ‘You’re just like our president!’ Eh, ‘di tawanan kami (That made us laugh),” Panelo said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

“Siguro (Maybe) [it is] the style of the President – prangka, walang sini-sino, kahit sino pwedeng labanan (frank, argues with anyone regardless of who they are). ‘Di ba ganoon si Mr. Trump (is like that, right)? Against all flags,” he added.

It can be recalled last April 2017 that the American President praised Duterte through a phone call for his “unbelievable job on the drug problem,” which the White House described as a “very friendly conversation.”

[READ: White House: Duterte, Trump have ‘warm rapport’]

During the gala dinner of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit 2017, with the Philippines being the chair, Duterte had a duet with veteran singer Pilita Corrales’ as she sang “Ikaw (You),” granting the ‘request’ of Trump for him to sing.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I sang uninvited, a duet with Ms. Pilita Corrales upon the orders of the commander-in-chief of the United States,” Duterte earlier said.

[READ: Light moments: ASEAN Summit 2017 Edition]

The Philippine President also praised his US counterpart in March 2018 for reportedly wanting to follow his style in fighting illegal drugs, which earned a lot of condemnation not only locally but also internationally.

On Thursday night, Duterte met Pompeo at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City and had a discussion where the two “reaffirmed the long-standing US-Philippines alliance” and talked about “ways to improve cooperation on regional security and counterterrorism,” according to US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino.

Pompeo then met  Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. on Friday and had a “productive meeting with frank exchanges” on the future of the two countries’ alliance and regional issues of security and economy.

Asked by reporters whether or not Duterte will make a visit to the U.S., Locsin said, “specific dates will have to wait for the end of the elections.”