Palace: Duterte is not an autocrat

Roque noted that the President is a lawyer and “knows the law.” “He wants to uphold the rule of law. He knows about the bill of rights.”.( ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

After intelligence agencies in the United States (US) tagged the Chief Executive as a “threat to democracy and human rights,” Malacañang defended that the President is not an autocrat, saying that the intelligence community’s assessment is “myopic and speculative at best.”

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has attracted several international human rights critics for his campaign to eradicate illegal drugs, but this time 16 intelligence agencies in the US including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) listed the Philippine president as a threat to democracy and human rights in a Worldwide Threat Assessment report on February 13.

(Read: CIA, 15 other US intel agencies say Duterte is ‘threat’ to democracy)

“We view this declaration from no less than the intelligence department of the United States with some concern,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. earlier said in an interview with DZMM radio.

In a statement, he added, “For one, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is no autocrat or has autocratic tendencies. He adheres to the rule of law and remains loyal to the constitution.”

Roque noted that the President is a lawyer and “knows the law.” “He wants to uphold the rule of law. He knows about the bill of rights.”

The report read, “In the Philippines, President Duterte will continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption, and crime. Duterte has suggested he could suspend the Constitution, declare a ‘revolutionary government,’ and impose nationwide martial law. His declaration of martial law in Mindanao, responding to the ISIS-inspired siege of Marawi City, has been extended through the end of 2018.

Roque addressed each of the elements in the report, firstly saying that autocracy is not prevalent, because the media in the country is still able to broadcast and print even fake news.

“Our judiciary and the courts are functioning as usual. Our legislature remains independent and basic services are still being delivered,” the spokesman added

(Read: Marcos’ ML different from Duterte’s ML – Malacañan)

Roque also defended that there was no revolutionary government or nationwide martial law which the report said Duterte might impose.

“It is therefore foolhardy not to tap social media as a tool when the technology exists for free,” Roque said, this time addressing the report’s citation of a Freedom House report which listed the Philippines as one of the 30 governments that used social media to combat criticism of the administration and spread agenda.

He added, “I don’t know of any government in the free world which does not use the Internet and social media to promote its agenda. This is very true especially in the case of the US. This latest intelligence assessment is a classic case in point.”