Filtered By: Topstories
News

Duterte to US State Department: Be careful of what you're planning


President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday asked the US State Department to be careful after several US senators asked the Biden administration to address the alleged human rights violations in the Philippines.

Duterte was discussing the gains of his administration in its war on drugs when he addressed the US State Department.

"Itong State Department. Be careful, be careful of what you are planning on doing there because you, yourself, your country— hindi lang was, is—is guilty of so many violations of human rights," Duterte said.

Several US senators last week urged the administration of US President Joe Biden to address the alleged pattern of human rights violations by the Philippine government under Duterte.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken dated July 26, Senator Edward J. Markey and ten other senators urged the US government to stand with the Filipino people to fight these rights abuses.

“The senators urged the Biden administration ‘to stand with the people of the Philippines as they continue to fight for their universal human rights’,” Markey said in a statement.

They cited the “inhumane” drug war; alleged collaboration with vigilante, fabricated reports, and planted evidence; as well as the supposed attacks against opposition, journalists, and activists.

Duterte's remarks as regards the US State Department came a few days after his administration announced that he had ordered the retraction of the termination of the PHL-US Visiting Forces Agreement.

"The President decided to recall or retract the termination letter for the VFA,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said at a press conference with visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

Lorenzana made the announcement a day after Duterte met with Austin in Malacañang.

The VFA is an implementation of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty forged by the US and the Philippines as security partners after World War II.

It is a framework agreement that covers the treatment and presence of American forces in the country with or without war games.

The VFA also makes it possible for the US military to assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines in combating extremist groups by providing technical assistance and enemy surveillance to Filipino troops battling the militants.

Duterte ordered its termination after the US canceled the visa of close Duterte ally Senator Ronaldo Dela Rosa.

There was no reason given for the cancellation but there were speculations that it was due to Dela Rosa's support for Duterte's war on drugs.

Manila sent an official letter of termination of the VFA to the US on February 11, 2020.

In November 2020, Duterte suspended the abrogation of the agreement amid lingering tensions with China in the disputed South China Sea.

On June 14 this year, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Duterte extended for another six months the suspension VFA's abrogation. —NB, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT