‘Kulambo diplomacy:’ Duterte to invite Xi Jinping to Davao home

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe inside President Duterte’s bedroom in his house in Davao City. With them is Presidential Management Staff chief Christopher Go. PHOTO FROM SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT CHRISTOPHER ‘BONG’ GO

Will President Rodrigo Duterte also show his “kulambo” (mosquito net) to Chinese President Xi Jinping?

The President will invite Xi to his house in Davao City when the Chinese leader visits the Philippines this November, Malacañang said Thursday.

“If they want, I will bring [them there],” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in an ambush interview in Malacañang, quoting Duterte’s response to reporters when asked if he would invite the leader to his Davao home.

Xi is expected to visit Manila at the end of November, his first visit under the Duterte administration, whose government has nurtured warmer ties with China amid a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

Xi could become the second foreign top leader to visit Duterte’s home at Doña Luisa Subdivision in Matina District after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toured the house of the Philippine leader in January 2017.

During his visit, Duterte showed Abe his bed, including his old and favorite mosquito net. /cbb