What should President Digong tell President Trump?

One of the most exciting parts of this year's ASEAN Summit is the arrival of 21 heads of state and heads of government, led by the world's three most powerful political leaders: US President Donald Trump, China President Xi Jin Ping, and Russia President Vladimir Putin. There is an emerging common bond that unites Duterte with all the three. All are strong leaders, firm, decisive and fearless, aggressive and, don't forget, they all love beautiful women.

So what should Duterte tell Trump? First of all, he should express the gratitude of the Filipino people for the valuable help extended by US in our defense of Marawi against the Maute-ISIS. Unknown to many Filipinos, the US helped a lot with their superior intelligence surveillance tools and equipment, which enabled our armed forces to detect the underground tunnels and secret hideouts of the terrorists. We should recall that the US also assisted the police special forces in the failed Mamasapano mission. This time, we won. But whether we win or lose, we should not forget to thank the US for extending their help at times of great and urgent need. We should also acknowledge the vital role played by the US.

We should hasten to interject, however, the need for US to respect our sovereignty and refrain from interfering in our domestic affairs, especially in our fight against drugs. The issue of human rights cannot override the urgent need to save our nation and protect our people from the highly destructive effects of illegal drugs on our youth. The so-called summary executions and extrajudicial killings should not be readily blamed on government as we all know that many victims were executed by rival drug lords and others were eliminated by their masters so as to eliminate potential witnesses against the drug syndicates.

Duterte should also tell Trump the need for the US to treat the Filipino World War II veterans, whether residing now in the US or staying in our country, with respect and due fulfillment of the vow of then US president Franklin D. Roosevelt and later president Harry Truman to grant parity rights to these ageing freedom fighters. My father, now 92, and residing in a city south of Seattle, is awaiting the fulfillment of that promise. Trump should be reminded that the Filipinos made tremendous sacrifices during WWII in taking the side of the Americans against the Japanese Imperial Army. The meeting between the two leaders should end with a stronger alliance between the US and the Philippines.

Minus the rhetoric between the characters of Duterte and Trump, the alliances should stand strong and indivisible.