‘Billions and a beautiful wife – must be heaven’

MANILA, Philippines - He’s a billionaire with a gorgeous wife, who can get away with his bad mouth, and now he’s president of the United States: it must be heaven to be Donald Trump, according to President Duterte. But at least he sees something in common with Trump: they’re both “gago.”

The Filipino word normally carries a negative connotation, but it can be used positively, which appears to be what Duterte meant. A possible close translation is “badass.”

“Billionaire. Grabeng ganda ng asawa niyan. Inggit ako. Kung magiging bilyunaryo ka, ganyan ang bunganga mo, tapos… ganyan kaganda ang asawa mo. Naging presidente ka na, ang asawa mo, heaven ka na (He has a very beautiful wife. I envy him. If you become a billionaire, you have that mouth and then you have such a beautiful wife, you become president and you have that wife, you’ll feel like you’re in heaven),” Duterte said at Camp Crame last Sunday.

“Yun ang lamang niya sa akin (That’s his advantage over me),” he added.

The President was referring to US First Lady Melania Trump, a former Slovenian-American model and the third wife of Trump.

Duterte, nevertheless, believes he has a lot of similarities with Trump, who assumed the US presidency last Friday.

“Look at his inaugural speech. He will stop drugs. Gago din! We’re not different. He will really kill you,” Duterte said.

“Yang si Trump, huwag kang magkumpyansa, parang bugoy. Pero hindi yan magiging billionaire kung talagang bugoy ang utak niyan (Do not be complacent that he is stupid. He won’t be a billionaire if he were that stupid),” he added.

Duterte has been compared to Trump because both of them are fond of hyperbole and are known for their inflammatory and provocative statements.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, who attended Trump’s inauguration, said Trump’s protectionist stance is similar to Duterte’s independent foreign policy.

“He mentioned that they will not impose their lifestyle on other nations, but then what they will do is prove to the world that they have a good way of running their government for the rest of the world to follow…They will let them be, that’s important. The President of the United States believes in protectionism, America first,” Andanar told television station PTV 4 last Saturday.

“The policies of President Donald Trump and President Duterte are similar in that respect. We have an independent foreign policy, and that the President of the Philippines also subscribes to the fact that it is important that we serve the interests of the Filipinos first,” he added.

Andanar said it was “very comforting” to listen to Trump’s 16-minute inaugural address, which highlighted the need for empowering the “forgotten men and women” of the US.

“And maybe if you go by it, it looks like our President and President Donald Trump would really get along together. President Duterte mentioned this when they talked for the first time last December,” he said.

Aside from Andanar, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. also attended Trump’s inauguration.

President Duterte riled at the US, including its then president Barack Obama, for calling his attention to reports of rising cases of summary executions in the conduct of the Philippine leader’s war on drugs. Duterte took the criticism as interference and declared that the Philippines would veer away from the US.

More than 6,000 people have been killed since July when Duterte assumed office.