{"id":83841,"date":"2016-12-17T09:32:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-17T14:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=83841"},"modified":"2016-12-17T09:32:30","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T14:32:30","slug":"philippines-duterte-us-aid-issue-bye-bye-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/12\/17\/philippines-duterte-us-aid-issue-bye-bye-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines’ Duterte to US over aid issue: ‘Bye bye America’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The agency has clearly not voted to scrap or approve the aid package, but Duterte unleashed an expletives-laden tirade upon his arrival in his southern hometown of Davao after back-to-back visits to Cambodia and Singapore. (PCO photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA, Philippines\u2014President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Saturday to terminate a pact that allows U.S. troops to visit the Philippines, saying \u201cbye-bye America\u201d as he reacted with rage to what he thought was a U.S. decision to scrap a major aid package over human rights concerns.<\/p>\n

A U.S. government aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, said earlier in the week that its board deferred a vote on a renewal of the development assistance package for the Philippines \u201csubject to a further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency has clearly not voted to scrap or approve the aid package, but Duterte unleashed an expletives-laden tirade upon his arrival in his southern hometown of Davao after back-to-back visits to Cambodia and Singapore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that we have been stricken out of the Millennium Challenge. Well, good, I welcome it,\u201d Duterte said with apparent sarcasm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can survive without American money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you know, America, you might also be put to notice. Prepare to leave the Philippines, prepare for the eventual repeal or the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement,\u201d he said, referring to a 1998 accord that governs American forces visiting the Philippines for joint combat exercises.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, tit for tat … if you can do this, so (can) we. It ain’t a one-way traffic,\u201d Duterte said, adding tauntingly, \u201cBye-bye America.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The 71-year-old Duterte, who describes himself as a left-wing politician, has made similar threats before and after taking office in June, but he and his officials have walked back on many of his public statements, causing confusion.<\/p>\n

While calling Americans \u201csons of bitches\u201d and \u201chypocrites,\u201d Duterte praised China as having \u201cthe kindest soul of all\u201d for offering what he said was significant financial assistance. \u201cSo, what do I need America for?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

He also said Russia can be a very important ally. \u201cThey do not insult people, they do not interfere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. also criticized the U.S. aid decision, saying it happened after Duterte declared he would chart a foreign policy course independent of Washington.<\/p>\n

The Philippines had been slated for another aid package after its previous five-year, $434 million poverty reduction program was successfully completed in May under Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III.<\/p>\n

The agency’s spokeswoman, Laura Allen, said Thursday that it would continue to monitor events in the Philippines before the next board review in March 2017.<\/p>\n

The U.S. decision is among the first signs of how concerns about the rule of law and human rights under Duterte could entail economic costs.<\/p>\n

The U.S. government, along with European Union and U.N. officials, has raised concerns about Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs, which has left more than 2,000 suspected drug users and dealers dead in purported gunbattles with police. More than 3,000 other deaths are being investigated to determine if they were linked to illegal drugs.<\/p>\n

In his news conference, Duterte was pointedly asked how many crime suspects he has killed in the past when he was still a crime-busting city mayor amid his vague and contradicting accounts of his exploits. The former government prosecutor again gave contrasting replies.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe one, two three … I’m saying, maybe my bullets hit them, maybe not, but after the burumbumbumbum, they’re all dead,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

Replying to another question, he said that he indeed has killed, but did not provide details and tried to justify his act. \u201cWhen I tell you now that I killed, do not term them as suspects because all of them died while they were fighting government people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He asked God for forgiveness in advance, saying he may not have time to pray if he’s assassinated. \u201cGod, forgive me for killing these idiots,\u201d Duterte said, then blamed God for the presence of criminals. \u201cYou create a human monster so if you are God, why do you have to create these idiots? That’s why they die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duterte, who has had a difficult relationship with President Barack Obama, said he would change his mindset if President-elect Donald Trump appeals to him. \u201cI have talked to Trump, he was very nice, very courteous,\u201d he said. \u201cI could not sense any hostile drift, or even the manner he was saying it, so, in deference, I’ll just wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will let Obama fade away and if he disappears, then I will begin to reassess,\u201d Duterte said, adding that he and Trump acknowledged each other’s similarly brash manners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk in the same language,\u201d Duterte said. He recalled that when he told Trump in a recent phone call that \u201cI like your mouth, it’s like mine,\u201d he said Trump responded by saying, \u201cYes, Mr. President, we’re similar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you know, people with the same feather flock together,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA, Philippines\u2014President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Saturday to terminate a pact that allows U.S. troops to visit the Philippines, saying \u201cbye-bye …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":83842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,1145,16,95,483],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","category-politics","mauthors-jim-gomez","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}