Jane Onyanga-Omara

USA TODAY

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte congratulated Donald Trump for a “well-deserved victory” at the U.S. presidential election and said he thinks the two will get along.

Duturte, who has made disparaging remarks about President Obama and was nicknamed the "Trump of the East" during his own presidential campaign, made the comments at a function at the presidential palace in Manila late Tuesday.

"It was a well-deserved victory. You (Trump) are the chosen leader of the most powerful country," Duterte, who was elected in May, told reporters, according to Reuters.

"We don't have any quarrels. I can always be a friend to anybody especially to a president, a chief executive of another country. He has not meddled in the human rights,” he added, when asked if he thought he would get along with the president-elect.

For Duterte, outrageous comments have become the norm

Duterte also said he has sought a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru next week and wants their countries to be the “best of friends," according to the Associated Press.

Duterte has thrown hostile comments at Obama including calling him a “son of a bitch” in September while warning him not to question him about his country's extrajudicial killings in a war on drugs. More than 3,000 people suspected of being involved in the drugs trade have been killed in the country since Duterte's election.

The Philippine president has said he would be "happy to slaughter" 3 million drug addicts like Hitler killed millions of Jews.

Last month, Duterte declared a "separation" from the U.S. — a long-term ally — "both in military and economics also." He later said he was not severing ties. "When you say severance of ties, you cut the diplomatic relations. I cannot do that," he said.