Ex-Pres. Arroyo extols Duterte: ‘Thank you for the years of real friendship’

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has praised President Rodrigo Duterte for being an “exemplary leader” as she greeted him on his 73rd birthday.

But a party-list lawmaker wished the former Davao City mayor to “live longer” in order “to account for all that he has done and failed to do” in leading the country.

In a statement sent to reporters, Mrs. Arroyo, now Pampanga representative, even lauded Mr. Duterte for his “trailblazing leadership and service” to Filipinos and thanked him “for the years of real friendship.”

“Happy birthday to an exemplary leader, President Rodrigo Duterte. Thank you for your trailblazing leadership and service to the Filipino people,” she said.

“Thank you for the years of real friendship. I wish you fortitude and the best of health so you can continue instituting your programs for real change for our country. You have my unwavering support. God bless you and your family,” she added.

Arroyo led the Lakas political party when she was president, but she joined Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in 2017.

Meanwhile, Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin hoped Duterte’s heart would be in the “right place” and that he may “accept that all lives matter.”

“May he have a heart in (the) right place, no more bluster and bravado, to let peace reign inside of him. May he accept that all lives matter for that is our reason for being, our humanity. And may he live longer to account for all that he has done and failed to do,” Villarin said.           /kga