“Medvedev, he is awaiting there for my visit”, Duterte told reporters, adding he would open up the “other side of the ideological barrier”.
Advertisement
In July, an global tribunal ruled that China’s claims were invalid. China, however, rejected the ruling, saying the court had no jurisdiction over the issue.
The death penalty was officially abolished in the primarily Catholic country in 2006, but Duterte said that “if God doesn’t exist”, capital punishment is the only way to ensure justice for the victims of awful crimes. I will open up all avenues of trade and commerce.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday he will invite the United Nations chief and European Union officials to investigate his bloody anti-drug crackdown, but only if he can question them in public afterward to prove their human rights concerns are baseless. The two countries have a long history of strong economic and defense ties.
Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the USA, his country’s long-standing ally and former colonial power, since he won a presidential election in May. Human rights advocates and Philippine allies including the United States have deplored the killings.
He declared last week he would visit China, with which ties remain frosty over a South China Sea arbitration ruling won by the Philippines in July.
Duterte later expressed regret for the comment.
Duterte also clarified that he is not inclined to talk about military alliances, especially in dealing with the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
He has said he wants USA military forces out of the southern Philippines and blamed America for inflaming local Muslim insurgencies there.
The Philippines and US signed a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1951, ordering each country to respond to any armed attack against its ally.
As one of the most disaster-prone and vulnerable countries to the adverse effects of climate change, his country reiterates a call for climate justice and the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities in the implementation of obligations under the Paris Agreement, he said.
Mason said the USA will continue to “work together in the many areas of mutual interest, including counterterrorism, to improve the livelihoods of the Philippine people and uphold our shared democratic values”.
“The president’s visit to a number of Asian countries is being arranged”, the source added.
Still, the United Nations inquiry may either mean a halt on those summary executions committed by faceless assassins or an opening for drug syndicates to further demolish the Duterte administration’s already controversial reputation before the world by committing executions of rivals and making it look like the work of “death squads”.
Advertisement
In a statement to USNI News, a spokesman for the Office of the Secretary of Defense said the Pentagon was aware of the comments but referred additional questions to Duterte’s office. Targets of his foul-mouthed tirades have included US President Barack Obama, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the European Union. “Why would you insult me?” he asked.
