PHL changed with Duterte at helm

Russia’s most prominent analyst on Thursday revealed that President Rodrigo Duterte’s “rockstar” status as the country’s leader and a more open Philippines under his leadership was what prompted them to invite the President to speak at their forum.

In a statement, Valdai Discussion Club chairman Andrey Bystritskiy said that the Philippines is an “extremely interesting country” with an interesting social and political situation and for that, they decided to invite Duterte.

“Mr. Duterte proving to be a very famous politician and first of all is because we like the Philippines, it’s a very attractive country and we’re very happy to invite him,” said Bystritskiy.

Bystritskiy also said that Duterte, who assumed office in 2016, “changed the direction of development of [the] Philippines.”

“He’s [a] leader…of a fast developing country and his point of view is important,” he said.

“Perhaps he has changed direction of development of Philippines. Philippines now more international, more open, more independent,” he added.