Duterte has landed in the Middle East

Duterte has landed in the Middle East

By QL Videos •

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Rodrigo Duterte - The Philippine’s beloved President - is now in the middle east! His arrival in Saudi Arabia late last night marks the beginning of his planned Gulf Tour, in which he also aims to visit Bahrain and Qatar to strengthen ties. Ensuring the welfare of Filipino workers in these nations has been cited as one of his priorities for this trip, and news of his visit has been met with a great deal of excitement among many Filipinos in the region.

Rodrigo Duterte, popularly known as "Tatay Digong", is the 16th and current president of The Philippines. An outspoken and unconventional leader, the 71-year-old is the oldest person to have become the nation’s president. He took to office with a landslide election win and boasts of a huge fan following among fellow Filipinos.

"Tatay" or "Father" Digong is a controversial figure internationally. His brutal war against drug users and off-kilter remarks about women, journalists and human rights advocates have been met with criticism from abroad. However, he enjoys the support and admiration from Filipino expat communities in the middle east - especially in Qatar, where the majority of expats cast their overseas ballots for him.

In a few days, Duterte is set to become the first president from his country to visit Qatar after Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did so in 2008. It is a foregone conclusion that his countrymen in Qatar will welcome him with open arms. After all, they had gifted him an overwhelming win when votes of Qatar-based Overseas Filipino Workers were counted last May. He received nearly 80% of total votes cast at the Philippine embassy in Doha — 12,475 out of a total of 15,694.

He is expected to arrive in Qatar on Friday for the last leg of his Middle East tour. He will be meeting with members of the local Filipino community in Doha at the Lusail Sports Arena on Saturday, April 15 between 6:30pm and 8:00pm.

Welcome to the Middle East, President. Your kabayan brothers and sisters are waiting with bated breaths to meet you!

PC: Esquire Philippines

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3 comments

By wirehead• 11 Apr 2017 19:38

commenting before the hordes get here. i hope my comment does get posted this time

By vickyboy• 11 Apr 2017 18:08

yes

By britexpat• 11 Apr 2017 11:09

Is this an official tour ?

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