Teodoro gives Rody benefit of the doubt on China

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro believes that former president Rodrigo Duterte had the best interest of the Philippines in mind when he met and spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this week.

When asked if the meeting should be a cause for concern, he said that “we should first know what was talked about before we can judge if it’s a concern or not.”

“But we expect that as a former president of the Philippines, Duterte holds the best interest of the country,” Teodoro said in Filipino yesterday.

The DND chief stressed that it is not the job of the defense department to coordinate with the former president to know what was talked about in the meeting in China.

“President Duterte is a private citizen, we do not monitor him,” Teodoro said when pressed on the issue.

Further, President Marcos, when asked about it, said it was “personal” and his predecessor did not have to seek permission to go to China and meet with Xi.

Duterte and Xi reportedly met on July 17 “as old friends” in Beijing at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse where Xi reportedly asked Duterte to continue promoting friendly cooperation between the two countries.

Soledad Duterte Memorial Building

As part of his trip to China, former president Duterte attended the inauguration of a college building named after his late mother, Soledad Duterte.

Former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea, who accompanied Duterte in the trip, shared a photo of the former president with officials of the Fujian Normal University in the inauguration of its Soledad Roa Duterte Memorial Building of their Soledad College. It was located at the city of Fuzhou in China’s Fujian province.

According to an overview published on the university’s website, Soledad College was established in 2017 with the support of the Friends of the Philippines Foundation Inc. It primarily admits Filipino students as part of efforts to “deepen the cooperation of higher education” between the Philippines and China.

Duterte’s mother, fondly known as Nanay Soling, descended from Chinese immigrants from Fujian province. The university said the college was named after her to celebrate her “legacy of courage, commitment and compassion.

Among the programs offered are undergraduate degree in Chinese Language and master’s degrees in Business Administration, International Business, Tourism Management and Physical Education.

Medialdea said the new building has a museum containing memorabilia from Nanay Soling, a life-sized statue, a replica of her working room and a running documentary about her life and the projects she did during her lifetime.