The Philippines

Former Philippine President and current Mayor of Manila, Estrada, said in an interview with Chinanews.com at Manila City Hall on the 26th that he is very happy that the Philippines and China have a good relationship. I hope President Duterte and Chinese leaders continue to maintain a good relationship. Relationship.

    On the same day, Philippine President Duterte delivered a speech at the second “Belt and Road” Summit Forum. Prior to this, on April 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang met with President Duterte respectively. The Philippine business delegation and Chinese companies signed 19 business investments with a total value of 12.1 billion U.S. dollars and will create more than 20,000 jobs. And trade agreements.

    In this regard, Estrada said: "The Belt and Road Initiative" has brought a lot of development to the Philippines. Thanks for China's help!

    Talking about the relationship between the Philippines and China, Estrada said: "20% of Filipinos have Chinese ancestry, and my ancestors are also Chinese. Therefore, it is easy for Filipinos and Chinese to communicate. The Philippines is an open country. For us, it is the Chinese who brought business. Manila has the world’s largest Chinatown, and there are many of my friends there. They give me a lot of support. The business behind them is very important to this city."

    In fact, now as the mayor of Manila, Estrada not only has close ties with the Chinese in Chinatown, but also has many contacts with Chinese local governments and people. On April 23, he hosted a banquet in honor of Guo Ningning, the deputy governor of Fujian who came to attend the Boao Forum for Asia Manila meeting, and welcomed Fujian Province to invest in Manila. On October 22 last year, he personally went to the Manila International Cruise Terminal to greet Mazu Meizhou, who was patrolling the Philippines for the first time, and said: "We are honored that Mazu patrol the Philippines!" He was wearing a Chinese red Tang suit during the Spring Festival this year. Participate in the Spring Festival parade in Chinatown in a convertible, and send red envelopes to the citizens for New Year greetings.

    The 82-year-old Estrada has a legendary life. He was born in a wealthy family in the Philippines. He has starred in more than 100 movies and is a Philippine superstar. He played the role of a hero from the lower class in many movies, and he was the Filipino "Robinson" who robbed the rich and helped the poor in the minds of the people. After the age of 30, Estrada started to enter politics with the positive image created by the screen. He was the mayor of the city, senator, vice president, and president of the Philippine Congress from a young age. In May 2013, Estrada was elected mayor of Manila and returned to politics for two consecutive terms.

    A reporter from Estrada, the Philippines and China established diplomatic relations in the 1970s. He read a lot of books about China and studied with his friends how China can lift hundreds of millions of poor people out of poverty. When running for president, he proposed that the Philippines should learn from China in agriculture. Later, after his good friend, Chinese Henny Lim, went to China to study, he attracted Yuan Longping to help the Philippines develop super rice, and agriculture made great progress. "China has a wealth of poverty reduction experience that is worth learning. For example, the family planning policy is also worth learning. This is an important part of poverty reduction," Estrada said.

    Estrada’s office is not large. During the interview, he had the Philippine flag and the Manila city flag standing behind him, the Manila city emblem hung on the wall, and a "Robinson" cartoon figure in the national Philippines costume in blue and green trousers stood on the corner of the wall. . When the reporter asked why he abandoned the movie and went to politics, Estrada gave a military salute playfully, as if returning to the silver screen. He said: "My film has influenced many people, and I hope to rely on this influence to lead people out of poverty."

    On the day of the interview, hundreds of Manila citizens gathered in the auditorium of the Mayor’s Office, waiting for Estrada’s third election for Manila’s mayor’s speech on the theme of "From Mother to Grave" a free welfare program for all people. The podium in the auditorium is very large, on which there are bags of food ready to be distributed to the citizens, including rice.

    Estrada hopes that the reporter will send this message to Chinese investors: Development is a big problem facing Manila, and our land is no longer sufficient. China's capacity in infrastructure construction is No. 1 in Asia, and Chinese investment and technology are welcome to participate in the Manila Bay reclamation project!