MANILA, Philippines – Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte celebrated his 71st birthday on Monday, March 28. Before his special day ended, a good friend channeled his inner Shakespeare and wrote the presidential candidate a poem.

Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr posted this short poem on his Facebook page Monday evening:

Marcos said he was the one who wrote the poem, noting that it is a limerick. A limerick is a form of poetry with 5 lines, a precise rhyming scheme, and is usually humorous.

The post has garnered more than 3,000 shares and 30,000 impressions since publishing.

BFFs

It is no secret that Duterte and Marcos, even belonging to different political parties, are good friends. Both are also very close to another Davao public official, Representative Antonio Lagdameo.

Duterte’s father, Vicente Duterte, was also the governor of One Davao (then undivided Davao Region) during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos, the senator’s father.

The Davao mayor was also welcomed warmly by Marcos’ sister, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos when he visited in February. There, Duterte said he would allow the burial of the late President Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) should he be elected. 

There is even a faction of Duterte supporters who are rallying for Marcos as his rightful running mate than Senator Alan Peter Cayetano – even as early as when the Davao executive filed his substitution to run for president at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last December.

It is also widely speculated that Duterte would have chosen Marcos as his vice president. Marcos was the first to “court” Duterte as his standard-bearer when he visited him and appeared on his local television show in 2015.

The presidential and vice presidential candidates, of two different parties, are both tied with respective rivals for the top spots in latest pre-election surveys. – Rappler.com