Duterte safe as magnitude 6.3 quake jolts NZ

DAVAO CITY – A strong earthquake that struck New Zealand yesterday did not affect President Duterte and his party, who arrived in Auckland for an overnight stopover before flying back home to Davao City today.

Duterte came from Lima, Peru where he attended the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit and transited through Auckland.

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck central New Zealand was not felt where Duterte was staying, a member of the APEC delegation told The

STAR in a message through Facebook yesterday.

“He is safe. We are all safe,” the source added.

The source also said Duterte was resting because he had to recover from jet lag.

Thousands of aftershocks in New Zealand have been recorded since a 7.8 magnitude quake struck near Christchurch in the early hours of Nov. 14.

Tuesday’s quake was centered off the coast of the North Island, 138 km from Palmerston North at a depth of 37 km.

The President and his delegation arrived in Auckland on a chartered Philippine Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft.

Duterte chose the route to Peru with a stop in New Zealand instead of taking the usual route through the United States.

Duterte has vowed he would not set foot in the US after he ranted at the US for criticizing his bloody war on drugs which was marred by reports of summary killings and human rights violations.

Duterte meets New Zealand foreign minister

While in Auckland, Duterte met with on New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully.

The New Zealand Herald reported that the meeting between Duterte and McCully at the President’s hotel lasted for an hour. They reportedly had a “wide ranging discussion” that included the South China Sea dispute.

It was not clear whether the two talked about Duterte’s controversial war on narcotics, which has left more than 3,000 drug suspects dead. –