(Eagle News) — When Hollywood action star Steven Seagal and a tough-talking President Rodrigo Duterte meet in Malacañang, what do they talk about?
According to a Palace statement, drugs.
The statement said the President “reiterated his strong stance against illegal drugs because it enslaves people to a form of synthetic chemical,” when he met the actor on Thursday.
Seagal is in the country to film an upcoming production “about illegal drugs and other crimes,” based on the statement.
During the meeting, the statement said Duterte also explained how the drug trade affected Latin America, with Mexico, in particular, feeling most of the effects.
He told Seagal the Philippines should not suffer the same fate as those countries.
On a lighter note, Duterte also told Seagal, a known martial arts expert, that he used to take karate lessons, the statement said.
Although the statement did not say what Seagal told the President during the brief meeting, in an interview with reporters prior to the visit, the Hollywood actor had already expressed admiration for the former Davao mayor, who he said has been “instrumental in making the Philippines a safer place.”
“I don’t feel like this is a dangerous place … I think it’s a place that’s up and coming with the new leadership,” he said.
He also said he kept coming to the country, which he said he has visited almost 100 times, because “the people … Filipinos are gentle, kind, musical, fun, humble and have great sense of humor.”