• President Duterte visits typhoon-striken Batanes
• Abella optimistic of President Duterte’s visit to China

“Mahal ko ang bayan pati Batanes, kalayo-layo nito. (I love my country including Batanes which is a long way off.),” Duterte said.

President Duterte said that under his watch, government services will be more efficient and free of corruption.

“Ngayon itong law and order, sabihin ko sa inyo, sabi ko walang corruption, walang droga, walang kriminalidad. I will not stop, masiguro ninyo, itaga ninyo kung saan ninyo itaga ‘yan. I will not stop until the last pusher, until the last drug lord is taken away,” the President said.

President Duterte has also given an ultimatum to government agencies in the processing of documents to enable the country to move forward.

“I’m telling you now, let us give the Filipino a respite of all of these years’ suffering corruption in government,” he said.

He said licensing and other permits should take no more than three days to complete and other national services no more than one month to expedite.PND

Included in the itinerary of the President are meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and National People’s Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang.

President Duterte is also expected to visit a drug rehabilitation center in China.

According to Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, there will be several Memoranda of Agreement that will be signed in various fields of cooperation between the two countries.

“Expected po natin na maganda po resulta nito sa ating bayan and it will bring in an economic increase. So inaantabayanan po natin itong ating panibagong pakikipag-usap sa Tsina,” Abella said in a radio interview with Radyo ng Bayan.

Abella also noted that there are hundreds of businessmen who will be joining President Duterte’s trip to China.

“So we expect po na maganda po ang magiging resulta nito para sa atin. It will bring greater cooperation,” he said.

In the same radio briefing, Abella called on the public to keep safe and prepare against the onslaught of typhoon ‘Karen,’ which is expected to make landfall tomorrow, Sunday.

“Please maghanda po tayo dahil ‘Karen’, ‘yung 11th po na typhoon na papasok sa ating bayan this year ay scheduled po to make landfall sa Aurora or Quezon bukas po ng umaga,” he said.

“We would like to encourage buong sambayanan natin na mag-ingat and then to please make sure na, ilayo po natin ang sarili natin sa peligro,” he added.PND