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Duterte, Trump agree on need for rule of law in drug war —US envoy


President Rodrigo Duterte and US President Donald Trump agree that the rule of law must be upheld at all times especially in the conduct of the Philippines' war on drugs, US Ambassador Sung Kim said on Tuesday.

In an interview on "News To Go", Kim said that there was "no ambiguity" in the discussions of the presidents on the margins of the 31st ASEAN Summit in the Philippines last November.

"They agreed that rule of law must be maintained on everything we do, including anti-drug, anti-corruption, anti-crime efforts in different countries," Kim said.

"There's no ambiguity about their agreement that the rule of law must be maintained on everything including the anti-drug campaign, and I think that's a very important point," he added.

Kim said Duterte and Trump had a "strong connection" and had similar stances when it came to international and local security, North Korea's threats of encroachment, and US-Philippine relations.

"They do have a very strong connection. They seemed to get along very well, I think on a personal level but also on issues," Kim said.

"They have a very strong agreement, for example, on the need to focus on counter-terrorism efforts and the importance of maintaining the US-Philippines alliance and of course, their shared perspective on dealing with the North Korean threat," he added.

Malacañang claimed in November that Trump lauded Duterte's implementation of the war on drugs after the White House announced that it would provide $2 million to the Philippines for its anti-drug campaign.

Duterte during the early part of his administration declared that the Philippines would follow a foreign policy track independent of the US after then US President Barack Obama and other US officials criticized alleged human rights violations in the conduct of his anti-drug campaign.

Ties between the treaty allies improved significantly after Trump won the US elections and took over the White House.

Kim arrived in the Philippines to become US envoy on December 1, 2016. —Rie Takumi/NB/KG, GMA News
 

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