MANILA – Malacanang on Monday said the report of the United States (US) State Department is not consistent with the stand of President Donald Trump who praised the campaign against illegal drugs of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“I personally heard the discussion between President Trump and President Duterte when they were here in the Philippines during the ASEAN Summit and I think I heard words from President Trump praising President Duterte including the war on drugs,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace media briefing.
Contrary to Trump’s stand, the US State Department reportedly stated in its Reports on Human Rights Practices 2017 report that “concerns about police impunity increased significantly following the sharp increase in police killings.”
“If I’m not mistaken, President Trump said he knows what he’s doing in the Philippines ‘no. So I do not know how to reconcile the State Department report with the actual statement of the President. But for now, we were going by the statements of President Trump that we all heard from the mouth of President Trump. He is after all the President,” Roque said.
Roque said there is nothing to worry about the US State Department’s report, adding that he thinks “this is not the priority of President”.