President Rodrigo Duterte could not hold back his tears and turned emotional as he heard loud chants of "Duterte...Duterte" from around 1,400 Filipinos who welcomed him like a rockstar at the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem last night.
The President in his own words :
“Alam mo bihirang-bihira ako umiiyak. Lalo na nu'ng -- I could remember maybe the times that I cried, when my father and mother died. But rare, very rare."
“Ito lang ang bisita ko na napaluha ako na nandito ako sa aking mga kababayang Pilipino. Siguro dahil nandito rin ako sa Holy Land."
“Napapaiyak talaga ako kanina, it’s not because of one person. Nang makita ko kayo and I need to protect everybody. You know maski na papaano by whatever measure if you are out of your country, it is really a very lonely job."
“I would like to say thank you to the State of Israel for hosting so many of my countrymen and that I have to hear any problem that may come from any Filipino here."
“One of the best places that we have to… and I don’t mind, isa sa pinakamagandang lugar na pwede mo talagang mapuntahan and you are treated as a human being."
“If it is not really a wrong proposal, pardon me, but if Israel would want, ipapadala ko ng lahat ng Pilipino dito kasi mas maganda ang buhay dito."
There are around 29,000 OFWs working in Israel mostly caregivers. This is also the first time a Philippine President visited the Holy Land since the two countries established ties in 1957.
By: Monching Lumantas
No comments:
Post a Comment