“Like a father meeting with his children and extended family,” said Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella as he described President Rodrigo Duterte’s meeting with the Filipino community in the Gulf Cooperation Council States (GCCS).
“These have been very moving days,” said Abella in a press briefing held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manama, Bahrain.
The presidential spokesperson said President Duterte may sometimes be “tough talking and severe about those who threaten the next generation” but he has also exhibited during such meetings with the Filipino community “tenderness, warmth and care.”
At the same time, Abella said these meetings have been marked by appreciation from expat Filipinos “who now feel that they have a government and a President who not only knows how they feel, but actually prioritizes their needs and makes sure they are recognized and included in the national life and conversation.”
He said the reception of President Duterte’s State Visits to GCC countries has been “extraordinarily warm, built upon the decades long presence of Filipino overseas workers, many of whom were nannies of a large number of the current leaders of these countries.”
“These present leaders speak lovingly and admiringly of Filipinos as a whole and some actually know Filipino words, and a number actually can converse in the dialect,” said Abella.
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