Duterte orders cancellation of rifle procurement from US

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the cancellation of the procurement of 26,000 assault rifles from the United States.

In a speech delivered after signing the executive order reconstitution and expanding the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, Duterte said the Philippines "will just have to look for another source" of the firearms.

"I would like to announce now that the 26,000 of M-16 that was [sic] maybe ordered or were ordered already, I am ordering its cancellation sa pulis. We will just have to look for another source that is cheaper and may be as durable and as good as those made from the place we're ordering them. We will not insist on buying expensive arms. We can always get them somewhere else. So kalimutan na na nila, sabihing it could be arriving on July of 2017," he said.

Duterte then insisted that he would not purchase anything that would just spread violence among Filipinos.

"I am ordering the police to cancel it. Hindi natin kailangan. You know why? Ay bakit? Why should we hurry it? 'Yung baril na 'yan bilihin ko? Sinong patayin ko niyan? Wala naman tayo kalaban. Tayo-tayo lang nagpapatayan dito. So why we have to hurry? I don't have to hurry," Duterte reiterated in his speech.

A Reuters report last week cited sources saying that US Senator Ben Cardin opposed the sale of the firearms to the Philippine National Police because of concerns about hman rights violations in connection with the Duterte administration's war on illegal drugs.

The US State Department and President Barack Obama have previously expressed concern over the spate of drug-related killings under the Duterte administration.

US Senator Patrick Leahy also previously warned that assistance to the Philippines may be stopped if the drug-related killings continue to soar.

He is the author of Leahy Law, which makes sure that US is not complicit in human rights violations committed by countries that receive aid.

The relationship between the US and the Philippines, a long-time ally, has been complicated lately by Duterte's angry reaction to criticism from Washington of his violent battle to rid the country of illegal drugs.  —KBK, GMA News