Tag: Rodrigo Duterte

It looks like President Duterte has finally come around and realized that the CCP not about to make concessions to a country they consider poor and inferior to them:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has withdrawn a longstanding threat to cancel a defense agreement that allows U.S. military forces to train in his country.

The decision on the Visiting Forces Agreement, or VFA, was announced by Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at a joint press conference Friday with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, in Manila.

“The president decided to retract or rescind the VFA termination,” Lorenzana told reporters during the conference, which was streamed online. “We are back on track.” (……..)

Its reprieve is the latest swing for an alliance that has been on shaky ground since the strongman took office in 2016.

Duterte began his presidency by insulting U.S. leaders and stating his intention to move closer to China and Russia.

That hasn’t gotten much traction with China, which has continued to occupy and enlarge artificial islands in the South China Sea that belongs to the Philippines, according to a 2016 international court ruling.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is a bizarre incident that of course President Duterte of the Philippines was the cause of during his visit with Filipino workers in South Korea:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s mouth has landed him in hot water again, this time for kissing a married woman on the lips in front of thousands of his cheering supporters.

Duterte, known for his verbal outbursts and other antics, is being slammed by critics for the kiss, which took place Sunday during a town hall-style meeting with overseas Filipino workers in South Korea. One senator called the act “a despicable display of sexism and grave abuse of authority.”

Duterte sought a kiss from the woman after he called her on stage to give her a copy of a book at the event in Seoul. When Duterte asked if she can explain to her husband that the antic was just a joke, and she said yes, the president leaned in and kissed her as thousands erupted in cheers.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but according to the article the kiss was a joke towards the end of Duterte’s two hour long rambling speech in Seoul to Filipino nationals living in South Korea.  The woman that allowed him to kiss her is married to a South Korean man and has two kids.  No word on what he thought of all of this.

It seems like President Duterte has nothing good to say about every world leader to include Kim Jong-un:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest controversial remarks target the North Korean regime, and they come just a few days ahead of his hosting a meeting of foreign diplomats at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.

In his typical colorful rhetoric, Duterte professed his hatred for war and described North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un as a “fool” and a “son of a bitch” who is “playing with dangerous toys.”

“This Kim Jong Un, a fool…. He is playing with dangerous toys, that fool,” Duterte said in a speech live-streamed on Facebook to tax officials on Wednesday. Then, he commented on Kim Jong Un’s appearance.  [Newsweek]

You can read more at the link.

According to the Filipino President Korean gangs are responsible for much of the prostitution and drugs on the island of Cebu and he vows to kill them:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to kill Korean criminal gangs who are involved in the illegal drug trade in his country, according to local media Monday.

Duterte told reporters recently that Korean gangs will not receive special treatment for their crimes just because they are foreign.

“For those into the racket (business) of prostitution, drugs and everything, kidnapping, you will be treated just like ordinary criminals,” Duterte, who has repeatedly encouraged citizens and police to kill those involved in illegal drug trafficking, said in a stern warning.

The statement came after Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa claimed that a Korean gang may be behind the murder of Jee Ick-joo, a Korean businessman found dead in October inside the national police headquarters.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

“I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of presence of foreign military troops. I want them out.” — Duterte in Tokyo. pic.twitter.com/aD6nh1b5iK

— Erik Slavin (@eslavin_stripes) October 26, 2016

President Duterte is now saying that he will maintain the alliance the Philippines has with the US, but will not allow any more military exercises:

 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday his country would maintain its existing defense treaties and its military alliances, adding to uncertainty and confusion over the status of security ties with the United States.

It an apparent break from a weeks-long torrent of anti-American rhetoric, Duterte suggested defense alliances would continue and his foreign policy was to “realign”, but reiterated joint exercises with U.S. troops, a decades-old tradition, would be stopped.

Part of the re-alignment has been overtures toward China and Russia, which Duterte has spoken highly of and plans to visit in the weeks ahead, starting with China from Oct. 18-21.

“We need not really break or abrogate our existing treaties because they say that it could provide us with the umbrella,” Duterte said in a speech to the coastguard personnel in Manila.

“We will maintain all military alliances because they say we need it for our defense.”

It was not immediately clear who Duterte was attributing the comments to when he mentioned “they” in his justification for maintaining ties.  [Reuters]

You can read more at the link, but could you imagine if Trump was to become President what the back and forth between these two would look like?

I guess we will see how well the Philippines enjoy being under the hegemony of the Chinese:

The Philippines’ bombastic President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a halt to his nation’s 65-year military alliance with the United States. Duterte, who is locked in a bitter war of words with the US, has taken steps to suspend joint military patrols and ordered American troops to leave the country.

Duterte’s defence minister, Delfin Lorenzana, said the 28 joint military exercises that the countries carry out each year under a 1951 defence treaty will be stopped, patrols with US navy vessels in the South China Sea had ended and 107 American troops flying surveillance drones against Islamic extremists would soon leave as soon as Philippines soldiers were equipped to take over their duties.

Duterte, nicknamed ‘The Punisher’ or ‘Duterte Harry’, has previously told US told President Barack Obama to “go to hell”, and described him as the “son of a whore” following criticism for his war on drugs. An ongoing US-Philippine amphibious beach landing exercise will be the last during his six-year tenure, Duterte announced.

“This year would be the last,” Duterte said according to The Guardian on Friday (7 October) in the southern city of Davao. “For as long as I am there, do not treat us like a doormat because you’ll be sorry for it. I will not speak with you. I can always go to China.”  [IB Times]

Here is the part that really gets me:

Lorenzana said that he would ask the Philippines Congress for $50m (£40m) to $100m a year to compensate for a hole in US military aid and said the country may contact Russia or China for new equipment.

“We have been allies since 1951,” he said according to The Times. “All we got are hand-me-downs, no new equipment. The Americans failed to beef up our capabilities to be at par with what is happening in the region.”

So they are complaining about receiving free military equipment?  Do they expect the US to give them free F-22s?  If they want modern military equipment to keep up with the Chinese how about buying your own equipment? It is not the US’s fault the Philippines is too corrupt to purchase their own modern military equipment to keep pace with the Chinese.

It sounds like Duterte may be trying to bring his country more closely into the orbits of Russia and China in a bid to keep control over their contested South China Sea islands:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he won’t allow government forces to conduct joint patrols of disputed waters near the South China Sea with foreign powers, apparently scrapping a deal his predecessor reached with the U.S. military earlier this year.

Duterte also said he was considering acquiring defense equipment from Russia and China. The Philippines has traditionally leaned on the U.S., its longtime treaty ally, and other Western allies for its security needs.

The remarks were the latest from a Philippine president who has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S. but also has tried to mend relations with China strained over South China Sea disputes.

Duterte said he wanted only Philippine territorial waters, up to 12 nautical miles offshore, to be patrolled by Filipino forces, but not other offshore areas that are contested. He added he opposes Filipino forces accompanying foreign powers like the U.S. and China in joint patrols which could entangle the Philippines in hostilities.  [Associated Press]

You can read much more at the link.

I don’t know what to make of this guy, but I have been reading that Duterte is extremely popular in the Philippines.  Maybe people have just had enough of the crime:

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned President Barack Obama on Monday not to question him about extrajudicial killings, or “son of a bitch I will swear at you” when they meet in Laos during a regional summit.

Duterte said before flying to Laos that he is a leader of a sovereign country and is answerable only to the Filipino people. He was answering a reporter’s question about how he intends to explain the extrajudicial killings to Obama. More than 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users have been killed since Duterte launched a war on drugs after taking office on June 30.

In his typical foul-mouthed style, Duterte responded: “I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. Putang ina I will swear at you in that forum,” he said, using the Tagalog phrase for son of a bitch.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link, but Duterte blames the violence in the southern Philippines due to the American crackdown on the Moros over 100 years ago.  However, the Moros were fighting outsiders long before the Americans ever showed up.