Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stopped by in Hong Kong late last week where he addressed his compatriots at a meeting, before heading to the two-day Belt and Road Summit in Beijing that concluded on Monday.
The Philippine community in the neighboring SAR welcomed the visit of the popular president, who spoke for over an hour at the Regal Airport Hotel on Saturday afternoon. Members of the audience chanted his name with fists in the air as he approached the podium to make his address.
Duterte asked his supporters and compatriotrs to give him just “three to four years [to get things done].”
“Just give me time to stop corruption,” he pleaded.
According to the South China Morning Post, Rex Aguado, the chairman of the Philippine Association of Hong Kong, said that the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong had invited community organizations to join the meeting, which was attended by around 1,000 people.
“It’s an honor for us that it’s the president’s first time dropping by Hong Kong,” said Aguado, as cited by the SCMP. “Lots of Filipino businesses in Hong Kong still don’t have a clear direction of the Philippines’ role in the Belt and Road Initiative.”
He said that he hoped the president would provide some insight into how his country can fit into the initiative.
Around 200,000 Philippine nationals are currently based in Hong Kong, according to the SCMP, most of whom work as foreign domestic helpers.
According to the 2016 by-census conducted in Macau, the MSAR is home to nearly 29,000 Philippine nationals. Accordingly, the Philippines is one of just four countries with a consulate-general based in Macau – as opposed to Hong Kong – alongside Portugal, Angola and Mozambique. DB
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