US envoy Sung Kim summoned to Palace over US intel assessment on Duterte policies

US Ambassador Sung Kim was summoned to Malacañang on Thursday over the American intelligence community report that  tagged President Rodrigo Duterte's supposed policies as among the threats to democracy in Southeast Asia.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Kim discussed the latest US Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment report.

"Executive Secretary Medialdea likewise instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs, through our Philippine embassy in Washington D.C., to coordinate and engage with the US agencies involved in the writing of the assessment," Roque said in a statement.

In a statement on Friday, Kim said the annual assessment was based "on widely available information."

He said that the information used in the report regarding the Philippines was previously reported by media sources.

The ambassador also discussed shared interests and possibilities for the partnership.

"The United States will continue to collaborate with the government of the Philippines," the statement read.

Roque said Medialdea instructed Philippine embassy officials and staff in Washington to provide the US government "accurate information on the realities happening on the ground in the Philippines."

He added that the report to the US government must include actions taken by Duterte and his administration "to promote socioeconomic development for the country and provide a safe and secure environment for all Filipinos, respecting at all times the rule of law."

Made public recently, the report viewed Duterte's pronouncements suggesting the declaration of a revolutionary government and a nationwide martial law as "regional threats" for Southeast Asia.

The February 13 report, however, never made an assessment that the President was in anyway a threat to democracy and human rights.

Reacting to the report, Malacañang said on Wednesday that Duterte was not a dictator nor had authoritarian tendencies.

“Our media are still able to broadcast and print what they want--‘fake news’ included.  Our judiciary and the courts are functioning as usual. Our legislature remains independent and basic services are still being delivered. There is no revolutionary government or nationwide martial law, which US intelligence officials are saying that the President might declare or impose,” Roque said.

Duterte has denied that he was setting up a revolutionary government, not long after threatening to declare one due to suppposed destabilization attempts.

The President also vowed to step down early if the transition to a federal government is done by 2020.

The martial law declaration, meanwhile, remains confined to Mindanao and is aimed at crushing terrorist and rebel groups. —with a report from Rie Takumi/NB, GMA News