World leaders congratulate Donald Trump on USA presidency win

Embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina cited the swift response of American forces after Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the central Philippines in 2013. U.S.

The Foreign Ministry in a statement here yesterday said this is Duterte’s maiden visit to Malaysia since taking office as the 16th President of the Philippines on June 30.

But in an interview before the victor in the United States poll was announced, Gatchalian expressed concern over the possible effect of Trump’s victory on the jobs for Filipinos.

While Philippine-US relations are still intact, they can be frayed and strained even to the breaking point should Trump continue with his outgoing predecessor’s stance in questioning and criticizing the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs which had claimed more than 4,000 lives as of this month. But the tough-talking man like Duterte is said to represent people’s sentiments, even edging towards spite over the country’s difficulties. “So clean slate”, he said in an interview even before Trump was officially declared victor in the United States election. “In my talk with the Prime Minister, I shall seek Malaysia’s continued support for the peace process in Southern Philippines”, Duterte said.

“Since this is a new administration or a new leader, we can always start with a clean slate”, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said. He said both leaders were underdogs and were unknown as politicians on a national scale, adding while they were sometimes not politically correct they both spoke from the heart. “We are alike”, he said. A large-scale exercise called Balikatan or shoulder to shoulder will be retained but will shift its focus to disaster response, humanitarian aid and counter terrorism, he said. “Long live”, said Duterte, who is often dubbed as the “Trump of the East“.

“I think (Philippine-US relations) will stay just the same”.

Stock in Century Properties rose 20 percent on Wednesday on the Philippine Stock Exchange on the news that Mr. Trump had been elected.

“First, send a nice congratulatory letter”, the senator suggested, adding Duterte should also declare a moratorium on cursing.

In 2015, Mr Duterte was forced to apologise after he was accused of referring to Pope Francis as a “son of a whore” when a papal visit to the Philippines caused traffic jams, according to Time magazine. “These American fools”, he said.

So far it’s “business as usual” for most US outsourcing companies, though some clients are seeking explanations about what’s happening on the ground and it could delay fresh investment, said Dom Fredrick Andaya, associate director at Colliers International Philippines.