President Rodrigo Duterte stopped and smelled the orchids — specifically, the ones named after him.
The Singaporean government honored President Duterte by naming a violet-red varierty of orchid after him during his 2-day state visit to their country.
The new orchid called Dendrobium Rodrigo Roa Duterte is a hybrid of Dendrobium Sonia Beauty and Dendrobium Urmila Nandey. It may be found in Singapore’s National Botanical Garden.
The President is in good company. Only VVIPs get the honor of lending their names to the tropical flower. Those who share the honor include Princess Diana, actor Jackie Chan, and Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi.
Singapore has been using the flowers “as agents to promote goodwill and foster closer ties between nations” since 1967. The Gardens has named over 200 VIP orchids to date.
According to a report by ABS-CBN News, the Duterte orchid is a “compact, robust and vigorous hybrid.”
“It produces upright flower sprays that bear up to 15 striking and well-arranged blooms, each velvety bloom measuring about 6 cm across,” says the report.
