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‘I WANT MY COUNTRY TO BE DRUG-FREE’

11-year-old boy thanks Duterte for granting request, lauds war on drugs


An 11-year-old Filipino boy in California has expressed gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for granting his request for an on-camera greeting for his school project.

"I'm gonna present it to my class during my oral presentation for my nationality report," Andre Esteban said on a video that aired on GMA News TV's State of the Nation with Jessica Soho.

"I like his (anti-illegal) drug campaign and I want my country to be drug-free," he added.

Esteban also got together with his teacher and classmates in the Fresno Adventist Academy in California to thank President Duterte.

"Thank you, President Duterte. Mabuhay!" they collectively yelled in a video posted by his mother, Almyra Grace Custodio, on Tuesday.

On October 25, Esteban's wrote a letter to Duterte from the United States asking him for help in his "nationality report."

"I am doing a Nationality report about the Philippines on November 15, 2017. I am interested in talking about you in my class," the boy wrote.

"Can you please send me a short video of you saying hello to my teacher, Mrs. Ricchiuti (Ri-kyu-ti), my classmates and I?" he asked.

The hand-written letter posted by Esteban's mother went viral on social media.

A few days later, Special Assistant to the President Secretary Christopher "Bong" Go posted on Facebook a 48-second video of Duterte granting the boy's request.

"I am sure that you will do [a] great report about our beloved country, the Philippines. Continue being a good son and study well and may God bless you and your family and all of us in this planet earth," the President said. — Margaret Claire Layug/RSJ, GMA News

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