Palace on US threat report: They’re making it hard to be friends

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said the United States Intelligence Community report that brands President Rodrigo Duterte as a threat to democracy and human rights in Southeast Asia would negatively impact the relations between the two nations. 

In an interview on ANC’s “Early Edition,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. viewed the move “not too friendly” from the country which the Philippines considers a “friend.”

“We like to be friends with the United States. But with declarations such as this, it is very difficult be friendly with the United States,” Roque said. 

READ: US intelligence lists Duterte as threat to democracy in Southeast Asia

He noted that the administration would view the world threat assessment “with some concerns.”

“This is something that we’re taking very seriously. It’s coming from the intelligence community. It’s not even coming from the state department. It’s something that the president will take seriously as well,” he said. 

The presidential spokesperson, however, maintained that the intel report would not affect the ongoing preliminary examination of the International Criminal Court into the extrajudicial killings linked to the government’s ferocious drug war as the US is not a participant in the international tribunal. 

READ: ICC to set initial review of accusations vs Duterte, drug war

Aside from Duterte, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also poses threat to democracy and human rights in the region, according to the world threat assessment published last week.

“In the Philippines, President Duterte will continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption, and crime,” the report read.

Warning sign

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said that the government should treat the US intelligence report as a warning. 

“There’s a creeping dictatorship. Now this assessment by the intelligence community of the United States government is basically telling Mr. Duterte that there is a red line that you are close to crossing,” he said in an interview on ANC’s “Early Edition.”

Trillanes, one of the outspoken critics of the administration, called the report “fair.”

“From day one that he started killing people, I believe he crossed that red line already. I maintain my position that Mr. Duterte had a policy of killing suspected drug pushers and even suspected drug users without going through any form of validation,” he said. 

Human rights watchdogs estimate that more than 12,000 have been killed during the course of the government’s brutal war on drugs.

The government disputes these numbers and only counts a little over 4,000 "drug personalities" killed in police operations.