Say hi to ‘Frank Sinatra,’ Trump tells Locsin in US

NEW YORK CITY – President Duterte may be known for many things, but for United States President Donald Trump, it appears that what he remembers most is the singing prowess of the Philippine leader.

“Say hi to Frank Sinatra,” Trump told Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. during a photo shoot with him and US First Lady Melania Trump here on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).

“You know who I mean?... I love that guy,” the US President added, as narrated by Locsin in a post on Twitter.

The foreign affairs secretary noted that Duterte joined singer Pilita Corrales in a song during the 2017 Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila that was attended by Trump.

Duterte sang “Ikaw” with Corrales, supposedly at the request of Trump.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I sang uninvited, upon the orders of the commander-in-chief of the United States,” Duterte, who is often compared with Trump, said after the song number.

Trump previously praised the Philippine President, at one point saying that he has “a great relationship” with Duterte.

Duterte and Trump remain good friends even if the Philippine leader has crafted foreign policy geared toward countries such as China and Russia, which are known to be adversarial to Western influence, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

Locsin is in New York to attend the annual general debates of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), as well as other high-level events happening at Trump’s hometown this week.

He will deliver the statement in behalf of the Philippine government as Duterte would miss the annual summit for the third time.

On the sidelines of the UNGA, Locsin also met with US Department of State Assistant Secretary David Stilwell, discussing areas of current and future Philippine-US cooperation, according to the country’s permanent mission here in New York.

“Half a billion dollars of military assistance,” Locsin said of the meeting with Stilwell. “That’s a good corrective to the widespread and deliberately ignorant view that America is not carrying its share of the burden of Philippine national defense.”

US-China trade war

Meanwhile, facing an impeachment probe at the US House of Representatives, Trump on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) reiterated his supposed accomplishments during the ongoing high-level events in New York.

“I’ve been up from early in the morning to late in the evening, and meeting with different countries all for the good of our country, and the press doesn’t even cover all of this,” he said.

“It’s all a big hoax. And the sad thing about this hoax is that we work so hard with all of these countries – and I mean really hard,” he said, referring to allegations of wrongdoing over his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he asked to initiate an investigation against a son of former US vice president Joe Biden.

Among the issues Trump brought up was the ongoing trade war with China.

“This year, America came to the United Nations stronger than we have ever been before. Since my election, the United States has not only brought our economy to a level that we have never seen, the most jobs that we’ve ever had,” he said.

“We’ve picked up trillions and trillions of dollars in value and worth of our country, and China has lost trillions and trillions of dollars, and millions of jobs, and their supply chain. And they want to make a deal,” he added.

Trump, speaking before the UNGA on Tuesday, blasted the economic policies of China, saying Beijing failed to adopt promised reforms following its admission to the World Trade Organization in 2001.

“To confront these unfair practices, I placed massive tariffs on more than $500 billion worth of Chinese-made goods. As a result of these tariffs, supply chains are relocating back to America and to other nations, and billions of dollars are being paid to our treasury,” he said in his speech.

“The American people are absolutely committed to restoring balance to our relationship with China. Hopefully, we can reach an agreement that would be beneficial for both countries. But as I have made very clear, I will not accept a bad deal for the American people,” he added.

In Manila, former president Joseph Estrada said yesterday the Philippines should maintain good relations with China rather than the US.

“If you can get more help from China than the US, then stay with China. China can help us,” Estrada said.

He made the statement as Malacañang described as “objectionable” China’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. – With Christina Mendez, Jose Rodel Clapano