MANILA, Philippines — Rockstar Bono of the Irish rock band U2 has a "soft message" for Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.
During his press conference on Tuesday to forge the partnership between his cause-oriented company Zipline and the Philippine Red Cross, Bono clarified that he and U2 did not come to the country for the first time to make headlines other than their mission to make blood and medical supplies more accessible to Filipinos through Zipline's drone delivery service.
"But, I've been a member of Amnesty International. I've been all my life. I take it seriously and I think human rights are critical," the rock icon stressed.
"My impression of the Philippines are very caring, very sophisticated people. And I understand that when progress is made, sometimes people make compromises for that progress. And I would just say, you can't compromise on human rights. That's my soft message to the president. Thank you."
When asked if he wants to meet Duterte, Bono said: "I have no plans."
"Today, I'm most focused on the positives of working with the health service might be and just the help is very, very encouraging," he said.
"President Duterte is very popular and he does not need me on his side."
Bono is a board member of Zipline, claiming to be the world’s first and only national scale drone delivery service. The company and the Philippine Red Cross announced their plans, expected to launch in the summer of 2020, to begin making on-demand and emergency blood deliveries by drone across the country. The announcement was made during a signing ceremony at Red Cross Headquarters. — Videos by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo