In what could have been a scene from his next straight-to-DVD classic, Steven Seagal — Hollywood actor, Vladimir Putin buddy and sometimes blues singer — dropped by the Palace yesterday for a late-night bull session with President Rodrigo Duterte.
According to a Palace statement, Duterte told Seagal that he shared his “strong stance against illegal drugs,” a stance made abundantly clear not only by his portrayals of hard-bitten cops in a string of B movies, but by his real life adventures in US law enforcement, some of which formed the basis of the A&E series Steven Seagal: Lawman.
Seagal is reportedly in country to scout a location for a sequel to his 1988 film Above the Law. The action film’s plot revolves around the story of a cop — played by Seagal — whose “routine drug-trafficking investigation leads to an international conspiracy.” Don’t they always?
Seagal is famously known to be friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who granted the American actor citizenship in 2016. At the time, he referred to Putin as “one of the greatest world leaders if not the greatest world leader alive today,” per the Washington Post. Alrighty then!
And while his star has waned considerably since the halcyon days of 1992’s “Under Siege,” he’s managed to keep himself in the news of late with pronouncements on American culture from his new home in Russia.
In an interview with Good Morning Britain on Sept. 27, Seagal slammed American football players in the NFL for taking a knee instead of standing during the U.S. national anthem, saying he thinks the protests are “disgusting.”
His affection for populist leaders also got him Serbian citizenship last year, after he praised its leaders President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
Seagal, who holds a black belt in several martial arts disciplines, offered to open a martial arts school in Belgrade during his visit.
During the meeting with Seagal last night, Duterte mentioned that he also used to take karate lessons.
So considering the pattern we’re seeing here, and the newfound friendship between our president and the action star, could Philippine citizenship for Seagal be on the horizon? We wouldn’t be surprised.
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