BALI, Indonesia – A strong earthquake that jolted the coast of Java and Bali islands early Thursday did not frighten President Rodrigo Duterte, Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go said.
“Sanay yan si President sa ganun. Para sa kanya kung panahon mo na, panahon mo na (The President is used to it. For him, if it is your time, it’s your time),” Go said in an interview with Filipino reporters.
Duterte arrived here Wednesday night to attend the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering with top officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB) and United Nations (UN).
Go said the President was already sleeping when the 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Bali and Java islands at 2:45 a.m., killing at least three people.
“Tulog na but nagising sya. Gumising talaga si Presidente, kaya pina-check ko kaagad sa PSG (He was already sleeping but he woke up. The President really woke up, so I asked the Presidential Security Group to check on him),” he said.
Go said he also checked on the President and even asked the PSG to look for an escape route.
He, however, clarified that the President did not leave his room.
“He’s okay, so he went back to sleep again,” Go said.
Duterte joined all leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a two-hour informal roundtable exchange of views with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, WB President Jim Yong-kim, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The ASEAN Leader’s Meeting carries the theme, “Achieving Sustainable Development Goals and Overcoming Development Gap through Regional and Global Collaborative Actions”.
Secretaries Alan Peter Cayetano of foreign affairs, Carlos Dominguez of finance, Benjamin Diokno of budget and management, Ernesto Pernia for socioeconomic planning, Martin Andanar for communication have joined Duterte’s trip.
The ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering took place on Thursday in preparation for the 2018 Annual Meetings of the IMF and WB Group, to be held on October 12-14.
According to media reports, some 34,000 delegates have registered to attend the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering and the IMF and WB Annual Meetings. (Jelly Musico/PNA)
