Duterte & Trump coffee in Manila in November? A coffee prayer for Digong

At the recent successful March 1 dinner reception hosted at the Makati residence of US  Ambassador Sung Y. Kim in honor of the 40th Anniversary of US-ASEAN relations, attended by such VIPs as Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez and Budget Secretary Dr. Ben Diokno, I casually inquired when our Philippine President Rody R. Duterte be meeting the new American President Donald Trump. One foreign diplomat said he thinks it could possibly be in November here in Manila during the much-awaited Asean Summit. 

If this diplomat is correct about Trump’s visit here in November, then that means the new US President’s December 2016 telephone conversation with Duterte and his personal invitation for them to have coffee in Washington, DC or New York City would have to happen much later? Duterte quoted Trump as saying: “When you come to Washington and New York, look me up. Let’s have coffee.”

Why is the prospect of Duterte and Trump drinking coffee together good news? It augurs well for better harmony in Asia and real mutual respect between us, the Philippines, as a true sovereign nation and our former colonizer, the US. This will be vastly different from the sometimes love-hate relationship that developed during the last few months of former President Barack Obama’s administration.

An ASEAN diplomat also told me it’s usually Premier Li Keqiang who represents China at the ASEAN summit, so it’s also highly possible Duterte can act as elder statesman of Asia to have Manila host a high-level bilateral meeting between Li and Trump “to help smoothen important bilateral ties between the world’s two biggest economic powers which are actually more trade partners than rivals.”

This ASEAN diplomat also added that during World War I and II, both the US and China as well as the Philippines were traditional allies, and he said our country “has a historic opportunity to help strengthen the crucial strategic partnership between the US and China for the long-term peace of the world and for sustained economic progress of Asia.”

Speaking of the positive vibes that sharing coffee can bring to cement friendship, on March 2 during the opening of Philippine Restaurant, Café & Bar Expo at the World Trade Center Metro Manila organized by Phil. Asia Conferences & Exhibitions, Inc. president May Juan, I met a lot of coffee industry entrepreneurs, and even the country’s top coffee baristas extol this beverage.

The coffee industry in the country is booming, I learned from Zomato that in the Morato/Scout/Kamuning area of Quezon City alone, there are already about 700 cafes. Wow! However, I also found that, sadly, local production of Philippine coffee is low, while coffee farmers’ lives are still difficult and they’re mostly poor. When can the private sector, government agencies like Department of Agriculture and Department of Trade and Industry finally undertake earnest and comprehensive reforms to boost the local coffee industry and help the farmers?

At this expo, Department of Trade & Industry-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) regional director and National Industry Cluster Coordinator for Coffee Myrna P. Pablo said to Philippine STAR: “Coconut is the tree of life, cacao is the tree of love that’s why chocolate is popular in romance, while coffee is the tree of peace. Wala namang nagkakape na magkaharap na magka-away, diba? Kailangan ni  (There seems to be no people who sit together face to face drinking coffee and quarrelling, isn’t it? So there’s a need that) President Duterte and his critics like Vice President Leni Robredo sit together over a cup of coffee, to promote peace.”

Coffee is world’s No. 1 legal drug

Thanks to my editor for sending me to this café expo, for I was able to indulge my coffeeholic habit that whole morning by drinking and comparing lots of local coffee brews by numerous  exhibitors.

Coffee is not only a great beverage for starting our mornings daily, it is also a good relaxing drink for a weekend like Sunday afternoon.

Indeed, it is true, there are two kinds of people: coffee people and sad people!

By the way, for politicos and other folks here or abroad who often refer to the anti-narcotics war of President Duterte as an “anti-drugs war,” be careful, that is inaccurate! You should specify “anti-illegal drugs war,” because coffee contains caffeine, the world’s No. 1 most popular — though legal — drug.

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant of the methylxanthine class, so coffee is the world’s most widely traded and consumed “psychoactive drug.” Unlike many other psychoactive substances, it is legal, safer and unregulated in nearly all parts of the world.

Through the centuries worldwide, many artists  and leaders have turned to the delightful beverage of coffee as their stimulant and energizer “drug,” including Voltaire, musical geniuses like Bach and Beethoven, and the legendary coffee aficionado the writer Honoré de Balzac (however, I do not believe the rumor that he drank 50 cups of coffee a day because I still believe in the concept of “moderation in all things”).

Last but not least, I highly recommend this prayer not only for our tough-talking and reformist President Rody R. Duterte, but for all of us: “Lord, give me good coffee for the positive energy to change the things I can change, and wine to accept the things that I can’t.” Cheers! 

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