President Rodrigo Duterte, on a four-day official visit to Tokyo, has slammed the United States for lacking in what he called “word of honor,” three years after the US State Department halted the planned sale of 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippine National Police.
The recall was apparently a message to Manila over alleged human rights violations, perceived after Duterte took over the presidency in 2016 when he launched an unrelenting campaign against illegal drugs in this country of 106-million people.
Then, in the same speech before the Filipino community in the Japanese capital on Thursday, President Duterte immediately compared the United States to Japan, saying the latter should be hailed for having word of honor.
The United States, with the help of Filipino soldiers, liberated the Philippines from Japanese invasion during the second world war.
In 2016, the US State Department halted the planned sale of 26,000 assault rifles to the PNP after some American lawmakers said the weapons might be used in the government’s campaign against illegal drug users and peddlers.
Duterte, in the same speech, said Russia and China, unlike the United States, helped the Philippines during the Marawi siege in 2017 without any conditions.
Duterte then encouraged Filipinos to support Japan, describing the ally as “kind.”
Japan is the Philippines’ top source of official development assistance and second top trading partner next to Asia’s economic giant China.
There are at least 280,000 Filipinos working and living in Japan.
At the same time, Duterte took pride, as he inches closer to the halfway mark of his six-year term, in the achievements of his administration, saying he had fulfilled all the promises he once vowed to the Filipino people, stressing he would spend the last three years at the helm to maintain peace and bring progress to the country.
The President, who previously gave himself a passing rate for leading the government, said his administration already delivered everything to the people.
“Where did we lack? I mean, I have given everything. I don’t have what you call unkept promises, there’s none,” Duterte said in his speech.
According to him, he already made good on the several promises he told the people such as the fight against drugs and corruption, free irrigation for farmers, the passage of universal health care, and providing a free college education.
“I said before I will get rid of drugs and crime. I also told the farmers there is no [problem with] irrigation…The universal health care is there already. Then the free college education,” he said.
“What else do I need to do? On my part, it’s just to maintain. Now, I will make the Philippines peaceful for the Japanese businessmen to enter the country,” he added.
Recently, Duterte encouraged Japanese business entities to invest and expand their operations in the Philippines.
The Chief Executive even assured Japanese investors that they will enjoy corruption-free deals once they venture in the country, stressing he would “kill” anything that hampers their businesses, no matter how small or big it is, in the Philippines.
“What do they need? No corruption and no kidnapping. So, it’s like that, corruption and their safety. That’s what I’m going to do,” he said in the same speech.
As for the continuous fight against drugs, Duterte initially promised to end the drug menace in his first three to six months in office.
But he admitted he “failed” to accomplish his goal, adding he could not control the “intensifying” illegal industry.
But in his speech, the President told the Filipino community in Tokyo that the country’s problem with illegal narcotics was subsiding, even as he acknowledged that illegal drug shipments still managed to enter the country.
“The drug [problem] is abating. It’s somehow subsiding, but there are some still being dumped there,” the President said.
He even bared he couldn’t care less about the death tolls during his relentless campaign against illegal drugs.
“I don’t give a shit no matter how many of you died, just don’t fuck with me on drugs. I’ll really kill you,” said Duterte.
“That’s why I said if you’re the president, and you’re scared to kill and be killed, then f*ck it, find another job. You can’t just say, ‘You go to court, and [wait for] due process’,” he added.
Duterte told Japan-based Filipinos that their choice of the next president would determine if his achievements now would continue and bear fruit in the future.
“In about five years’ time, if the next president follows through with what I have done, things will continue,” he said.
In January this year, the Social Weather Stations reported that at least five out of 10 adult Filipinos expected Duterte to make good on the several promises he told the people.
In its survey, SWS said 48 percent of adult Filipinos expect the President to fulfill most, if not all, of his promises.
The latest figure was two points higher than the previous 46-percent mark recorded in March 2018.
Asked how many of the President’s promises can be fulfilled, 13 percent said Duterte can fulfill “all or nearly all” of his promises.
Some 35 percent of those polled said Duterte could carry out “most” of his promises, while 46 percent believe he can succeed with a few of his promises.
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