Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has congratulated Donald Trump on his shock election win, saying the reality TV star can help enhance relations with the Asian country.
Duterte, who infamously told President Obama to ‘go to Hell’ last month, has often expressed his outrage with his administration.
Having repeatedly threatened to end his nation’s alliance with Washington, he is said to be ‘looking forward to working with the incoming administration’.
President Duterte hailed the success of US democratic system and the American way of life following Trump’s victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement.
The Filipino leader, who promised a crackdown on drugs before he was elected in June, blasted President Obama after he criticized Manila’s anti-drugs campaign last month.
The controversial leader, dubbed ‘Duterte Harry’ by his critics, has faced international condemnation over the violent deaths of 3,000 suspected drug dealers or addicts over the past three months.
Duterte has threatened ‘to break up with America’ and instead seek closer ties with China and Russia, despite the country’s long standing relations with the US.
He has previously described Washington as an unreliable ally, saying Filipino forces have not benefited from joint combat exercises with US troops.
‘Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell,’ he said in an inflammatory speech last month.
Global stock markets plummeted after controversial property mogul Trump stormed to the White House on Wednesday.
Asian equities kicked off the worrying trend, with Tokyo nosediving on investor concerns over the untested policies of incoming president Trump.
Europe followed suit, tipping two per cent lower in Frankfurt, London and Paris, but the British market rebounded briefly into slender gains after Trump’s conciliatory acceptance speech.
‘We have seen the market reaction be nowhere near as bad as it might have been – we could yet see a big pullback,’ said ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson.
‘Just like Brexit the longer term implications of this vote are much harder to discern and forcing investors to take stock.’
‘For now markets look like they are in limbo, maybe waiting for the US open for direction.’
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