(Eagle News) — The incoming President.
This was how President Rodrigo Duterte described Philippine Red Cross Chair Richard Gordon on Tuesday, as he heaped praises on the senator during the launch of the country’s first ever humanitarian mission ship.
Duterte used the reference several times in front of members of the audience, who were apparently amused.
“We local government officials…we are not new to disasters..We deal with (them) almost every other day….We stare eyeball to eyeball with human tragedy. But nothing can beat Senator Gordon, President Gordon, Nov. 8, 2013,” Duterte said, to applause.
“That’s how I really dread crises and catastrophes like these.We have to give this to Senator, President Gordon…I’m sorry, Mr. President,” Duterte added at one point.
Duterte also named Gordon as one of the two people he “dreads” to be with when they talk.
The President said the senator talked “fast,” had a “perfect diction,” but his “drawl” was “distinctly Ilocano.”
The other was apparently former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, who also speaks with an accent.
Yasay was rejected by the Commission on Appointments after the powerful body ruled he had lied about his citizenship.
“I have to make salutations and terms of endearment. This would not have been possible were it not for the human spirit you possess,” Duterte said, also in apparent reference to the PRC.