The Philippines’ hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit and related meetings was a “tremendous success” that gained President Duterte recognition as an international leader and the country worldwide admiration, Malacañang said on Thursday.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said there was a “sigh of relief” after the events that had 21 leaders coming to the country were pulled off without a single untoward incident.
“But thanks to the cooperation of the Filipino people, we averted such incidents. And the world community now recognizes not only the fact that the Philippine President is not just the president of the Philippines, a leader of Southeast Asia, but a recognized leader in the international community,” Roque said in a press briefing.