FB post of Abe’s Davao City visits hits 1.3 million views

DINNER HOSTS President Duterte is welcomed by Akie Abe, thewife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left), to a dinner they hosted in Tokyo. With the President is his partner, Honeylet Avanceña. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

TOKYO — Thanks to Filipinos, the video of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Davao City that he posted on his Facebook page has hit more than a million views.

But this also prompted Abe to urge his fellow Japanese to visit their own prime minister’s Facebook page as well.

In a light moment during the dinner he hosted for President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday evening, Abe said he was truly impressed by the welcome given to him and his wife, Akie, during his January visit to Davao City, the Philippine leader’s hometown.

1.3 million views

“The video clip featuring my stay in Davao City we put on the prime minister’s Facebook account page actually marked over 1.3 million access counts, the greatest ever,” he said.

He said 90 percent of those who saw the page were Filipinos across the globe, “so only the 10 percent account for those of us in Japan.”

“So I would like to encourage Japanese to pay more attention to my Facebook account,” he added.

But he also said the many views from Filipinos on his Facebook page underscored the “deep, family-like ties between Japan and the Philippines.”

Mr. Duterte has a strong online following, with many of his supporters publishing Facebook pages, websites and blogs to support him and to bash his perceived critics.

Abe, who wished Mr. Duterte good health and success, voiced hopes the friendly and cooperative relationship between the peoples of Japan and the Philippines would continue to flourish.

Growing friendship

Mr. Duterte congratulated Abe on his victory in recent snap elections, and described their growing friendship as going “beyond official lines.”

“Your victory demonstrates the continued trust of your people in your leadership,” he said.

In his toast remarks during dinner with Abe, Mr. Duterte said that while his Japan trip was his second, his personal interest and excitement over it had not diminished.

He thanked Abe and his wife for hosting what he described as a “reunion between friends.”

“Suffice it to say that this frequency of interaction is friendship that goes beyond official lines,” he said.