Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has launched a fresh expletive-filled tirade against the United States, accusing one of the country’s closest allies of lacking “word of honour”, while suggesting that the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is out to get him.
In a speech in Manila on Thursday, Duterte lashed out at the US Government for halting the planned sale of firearms to the Philippines because of human rights concerns.
“The fact is, the Americans really do not honour their word,” he said, justifying his decision to turn to China and Russia to acquire rifles for Filipino forces.
“At least, if ever my airplane explodes, or if some roadside bomb explodes, maybe you can ask the CIA,” Duterte told a group of farmers and fishermen gathered at the Malacanang presidential palace. It was not the first time the Philippine president accused the CIA of plotting against him.
In 2016, he told a group of Filipinos in Vietnam that he received reports of an “alleged plan by the CIA to kill me”. In 2017, he was also quoted as saying, “If I die, it’s America (that is behind it). It’s the CIA”.
He had also claimed that the CIA was to blame for a botched 2015 raid against an armed Muslim leader that left 44 members of an elite police unit dead.
In February, Duterte had also claimed that the CIA is funding the news website, Rappler, allegations that the Manila-based company denied. Rappler has earned the president’s ire for publishing reports critical of his Government.
US ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim had denied that his Government is trying to undermine the Philippine government. But a 2018 CIA report listed Duterte as one of the “regional threats” in Southeast Asia.