President Duterte will not throw a lavish party when he turns 73, his top aide said, as Chinese Premier Xi Jinping sent him warm greetings.
Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go said Duterte would celebrate with family at his Davao City tomorrow (Wednesday, March 28).
“He has never been known to throw lavish birthday parties even when he was mayor of Davao City,” Go said in a statement.
“Prayers from his well-wishers during his birthday would surely make him very happy.”
Quick off the mark, China’s Xi Jinping has already extended his best wishes to the birthday boy.
In a congratulatory letter released by the Chinese Embassy, Xi hailed the renewed ties between Manila and Beijing.
“Over the past year, the China-Philippines relations have experienced a turnaround and are being further consolidated and deepened,” he wrote.
“Our bilateral relations have enjoyed ongoing betterment and improvement and reaped productive outcomes, which brought tangible benefits to our two peoples and promoted peace and stability of the region.
“I attach great significance to the growth of China-Philippines relations, and stand ready to work with you to carry forward sustained and in-depth growth of China-Philippines relations and bring about more benefits to our countries and peoples.”
Duterte met with Xi during his 2016 visit to Beijing and at the sidelines of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit the same year.
In 2017, Duterte again met Xi when he attended the launch of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing.
The president has been in Davao since last week and is expected to return to Malacañang only after the Holy Week celebrations.
Duterte, the oldest ever president of the Philippines, has long been known to shun parties. He has previously said it was a family tradition to keep such occasions simple.
Duterte was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin, Southern Leyte to Vicente Duterte, who served in the cabinet of Ferdinand Marcos, and Soledad Roa, a school teacher who opposed the dictator’s regime.
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