Duterte under fire for Hong Kong trip
MANILA — Social media users hit President Rodrigo Duterte for going on an unannounced trip to Hong Kong with his family while Filipinos grapple with steep prices of commodities.
In a Facebook post on Saturday night, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go uploaded photos of him, Duterte, the president's common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña and presidential daughter Kitty in Hong Kong. They were seen dining, shopping for clothes and walking on the street.
Columnist Elen Tordesillas earlier posted a photo of Duterte wearing a black face mask inside a Uniqlo shop in Causeway Bay.
Go said the president needed to take a “rest” over the weekend.
Duterte's sudden overseas trip came a day after inflation reached a fresh nine-year high of 6.7 percent in September.
Sharp increases were seen in food and non-alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; housing, water, electricity and fuel; furnishing and household equipment; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services.
The trip also came three days after the chief executive revealed that he had gone to Cardinal Santos hospital for some tests and that his Barrett's esophagus has gotten worse.
Social media users blast the president for flying to Hong Kong while the nation is suffering from rising costs of goods.
But some defended the president's unscheduled trip.
“I really believe that he deserves private time. He has to stop and smell the flowers too… He works so hard. I think he deserves it,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.