Palace hits claim Thai king ordered Duterte to behave during ASEAN Summit

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Friday slammed an alleged report that Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn instructed President Rodrigo Duterte to behave during the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Bangkok.

Holding a copy of the October 31 edition of the Bangkok Post, Andanar denied in a video statement that the newspaper ran a front page story titled “King orders PH Duterte, behave during ASEAN summit.”

“Meron pong mga malisyoso na gumawa ng fake news na nakalagay dito na ay pinagsabihan daw ng hari si Presidente Duterte na mag-behave. Kitang kita naman dito na iba po yung nakasulat,” Andanar said, referring to the article about a call for Thailand to embrace 5G technology.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar hits claim Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn directed President Duterte to behave during the 35th ASEAN Summit. The biannual summit is on Nov. 2-4. ????: PCOO Office of Global Media Affairs @gmanews pic.twitter.com/ietURnIjDf

— Virgil Lopez (@virgillopez) November 1, 2019

The Palace official warned that defaming the Thai royalty is punishable by up to 15 years in prison under its lese majeste laws.  He also said false reports could damage bilateral relations.

“Sana huwag ho tayong gumawa ng ganung klaseng fake news,” he said. 

Duterte was expected to participate in the meeting of Southeast Asian leaders on regional and global issues on November 2 to 4. The regional bloc was also scheduled to meet with the United Nations and its dialogue partners China, India, United States, South Korea and Japan.