Duterte will consider acquiring U.S. weapons, but calls American officials ‘monkeys’
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses the crowd during his visit to Sual township, Pangasinan province in northern Philippines, to send off arrested 17 Vietnamese fishermen Wednesday.
SUAL, Philippines >> Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he’ll consider continuing to acquire weapons and defense equipment from treaty ally the United States if his military recommends so, despite offers from China and Russia.
Duterte made the remark Wednesday in a speech in which he again railed at the U.S. with expletives for criticizing his deadly anti-drug crackdown, calling American officials “monkeys” and breaking a promise that he would no longer resort to trash talk.
Duterte, who took office in June, has been antagonistic to U.S., EU and U.N. officials who have raised human rights concerns over his brutal crackdown on illegal drug sellers and users and called for an end to extrajudicial killings.
He has used expletives in responding to their criticisms, telling President Barack Obama to “go to hell” in an outburst last month. He has declared his intention to scale back his country’s military engagements with Washington, including ending largescale joint combat exercises and the presence of visiting U.S. forces, while reaching out to expand once-frosty relations with China and Russia.
U.S. officials, however, say they have not been formally notified by the Philippines of any change in security relations and activities and stress that Washington wants to continue its decades-long alliance with Manila.
Asked about Duterte’s latest tirade, State Department spokesman John Kirby said it was inexplicably at odds with the close relationship that the U.S. continues to have with the Philippine government and people. He said that in a democracy, government “doesn’t rest on the shoulders of just one individual.”
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“There are long standing relationships that we have nurtured over the years with figures in his government, and those relationships are still there, and they’re still vibrant,” Kirby told reporters, adding that the U.S. remains committed to developing a good working relationship with Duterte himself.
Duterte said he has asked his defense secretary and military officials to travel to China and Russia to check what weapons and defense equipment they have to offer, but added that the military’s recommendation will be crucial.
“China is open. Anything you want. They even sent me a brochure, telling me to choose and they will provide,” Duterte said.
“I’m just holding off because I’m looking at the military,” he said. “If you want to stick with America, fine, but assess it well and find a balance because we are being ridiculed.”
The brash president traveled to a wharf in Sual town in the northwestern province of Pangasinan to lead a poignant send-off ceremony for 17 Vietnamese fishermen who were arrested last month for poaching in local waters. The complaints were dropped after the Vietnamese said a typhoon forced their three boats toward the northern Philippines and that they had no intention of poaching.
Duterte said his Vietnamese counterpart appealed for the fishermen’s release and Wednesday’s ceremony — in which he shook hands with the fishermen and handed each a bag filled with food, a raincoat and toiletries — showed how Asians resolve problems.
“Vietnam drove the Americans away in humiliation,” Duterte said, using the ceremony to criticize U.S. actions that he said brought countries like Iraq, Syria and Libya to chaos and civil strife.
“I have good impressions of America but the problem is I have lost my respect, that’s why I’m bad-mouthing them,” he said. “These Americans never learned their lesson with their interventions.”
63 responses to “Duterte will consider acquiring U.S. weapons, but calls American officials ‘monkeys’”
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that’s it, cut his line already.
Yep…
Nobody who looks and acts like this guy should be calling anybody else a “monkey.”
Sounds like Trump to me!!!!!!!!
One track mind. Can’t you focus on more than one issue at a time?
the pot calling the kettle black..the next tsunami hits ..dont call us for aid….
This just shows how weak we look to the rest of the world.
Why are we still talking to this “monkey”?
This man strikes me as being very insecure. He lashes out when he feels slighted and is very easily provoked. In this way, he is very like donald trump.
Whatever he says about the U.S., the U.S. will still sell them weapons. Money talks.
The US doesn’t sell weapons to the Philippines, more like underwrites the cost of any weapons and if they are purchased they are heavily subsidized by agreements that are in place between the two countries.
Money? We usually give weapons away.
Cut every thing off from PI already. He wants aid, weapons, etc., let him go to his BFFs China and Russia. Earlier he said he wanted to see only Filipino uniformed soldiers in the PI, so be it.
If he wants to see a monkey, he merely needs to look in a mirror!
So where does Barry stand on all of this? I have a feeling that someone else wouldn’t be taking all this cr@p from a tinhorn, third world, wannabe.
Yeah, Drumpf would nuke ’em. I hear they really dig stuff that glows in the dark.
Except the Chump. After all the monkey is related to the orangutan.
Duterte must’ve looked in the mirror just before coming out with that “monkey” crack.
Price just went way up.
That’s racist
What? Asking Obama where he stands?
He’s probably not serious about anything he says, just plenty hot air.
The Filopino version of the Chump. Got elected because the undereducated loved his tough talk. Now they are stuck with an ignoramus that is going to take their pitiful country down the tubes. What he has proven is that if it talks stupid, acts stupid, and is surrounded by people who say that he is smart. Then he and everyone who supports him is truly stupid.
Learn to speak Mandarin Mr. Prez
They don’t have TelePrompTer in the P.I. This is what you get when you elect a hot head to your president. I’m sure you know who I am comparing him to.
Monkeys? These flips look more like monkeys and human.
First, your post makes no sense in English. Second, I, a caucasian, object to your epithets and third, can you please join “butiyski” under the bridge?
whoops, I got “corrected” I meant “butinski” (this time it was my spell check, not the SA’s)
Hey, spell my name correctly please. You’re welcome to join us under the bridge and watch HRC as she melts down under all her corruptness issues. Bring a bottle of wine with you wrapped in a paper sack.
Puck This Plip !!!
I know you meant to say Filipinos.
Yes I to close to the o.
I think that this guy will be terribly harmful for the people of his nation. At one time, education was a great force in the Philippines. Perhaps it might be again.
He’s only saying that to appease the Military who are opposed to his anti-American rhetoric and are a threat to depose him. But with Ramos already resigning from his Cabinet and distancing himself from Duterte, it might just be a matter of time even with this, his raising their salaries, and giving the soldiers gifts such as personal firearms.
This guy better watch out. If Trump becomes president he might deport all the immigrants that’s in the US back to PI.
Trump will never be president wake up.
You wake up fool!
No you are the fool thinking trump cares about the middle class and the poor and I know you are not rich so you need to wake up too.
OMG and when he does his verb tenses might just agree….
Apparently loser Rodrigo Duterte has already disregarded his conversation with God to speak without using profane and disrespectful language. Guessing what he needs is a long trip to the woodshed and a meeting with a very strong switch to his read end.
Have to laugh at this supot, whiny, crybaby, little step child trying to act tough in an adult world. He also needs to quit hiding his age by using such strong black hair die. We already know he is totally gray haired.
You could really be talking about the Chump. To his credit he hasn’t insulted any females so far.
Correction. He did that also, saying he should have been first in line after some news nuns were raped by terrorists.
WE ARE MONKEYS if we let him have weapons.
Is he going to kill sex for $$$. The trade that makes more money for PI then drugs.
This guy is going to get whacked. He is supposedly popular with the uneducated in the PI because of his socialist views but those in the military and other elements there will probably
decide soon that he has to go. Nothing wrong with seeing if problems with the ChiComs cannot be resolved peacefully and to build economic ties but he is foolish to believe
that the ChiComs can be trusted in the long run.
You talking about Chump or Duterte?
Cut off remittances to the Philippine’s from the us and watch the people turn against him real fast.
Sell him two sling shots and some blow darts. Tell him to take a hike.
This is an example of what happens when we have a weak president, and HilLIARy botches our State Department. What happened to the world will respect us again? Under a strong president, this would never have happened, Trump will have a huge job ahead of him fixing all the problems created by the incompetent Obama and his partner in crime HilLIARy.
The story will not end well for Duturte. I think sooner or later he’ll end up facing his own brand of justice, probably at the hands of his own military or bodyguards. They won’t allow him to get in bed with a communist regime ruled with an iron fist, they’ve come too far since WWII to go back.
You people DO realize that 95% of El Presidente’s bravado is for domestic consumption, right? He has to keep stoking the fires of support for himself when people eventually realize he’s a gasbag do nothing…
I will be waiting with bated breath for his comments on hillaryious if she attains potus.
Send him a box of sling shots.
Irony..is so…ironic.
Duterte said “China is open. Anything you want. They even sent me a brochure, telling me to choose and they will provide,” Duterte said.
If, China is open, why are you begging for American made equipment? Why, he knows China will sell the Philippines substandard weapons and equipment.
Send him bananas.
You mean to say, we will continue to sell arms to a country that is controlled by a nutcase? How can they buy arms when they always need to borrow money, what the hell do they pay with?
We may be “monkeys,” but we won’t have to defend our territory against the Chinese by throwing coconuts and bananas. Good luck with that.
What is coming out of this guy’s mouth? Betcha he doesn’t even consider himself filipino, he’s probably “Spanish.”
You know, an empty can makes the most noise, and although when we run across a person like this we should really take the “high road”, every once in a while we run into somebody who we just wanna smash in his face. This is one of those guys.
‘Made in China’ or ‘Made in U.S.A.’, which one do you want? Its a no-brainier. But you’re looking at a half-crazy guy; hard to tell.
He wasn’t calling American officials monkeys,. he was calling all American people monkeys. If we are monkeys, you are monkey poop.
Sticks and stones will hurt my bones but words will never hurt me…