Philippines' Duterte rails at U.S.
'monkeys' for halting gun sale
Send a link to a friend
[November 02, 2016]
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte chided the United States on Wednesday for
halting the planned sale of 26,000 rifles to his country, calling those
behind the decision "fools" and "monkeys" and indicating he might turn
to Russia and China instead.
Duterte's tirades against the former colonial power are routine during
his speeches and he said on Wednesday he once believed in Washington,
but had since lost respect for what is the Philippines' biggest ally.
The U.S. State Department halted the sale of the assault rifles to the
Philippine police after U.S. Senator Ben Cardin said he would oppose it,
Senate aides told Reuters on Monday.
Aides said Cardin, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, was reluctant for the United States to provide the weapons
given concern about human rights violations in the Philippines during
Duterte's bloody, four-month-old war on drugs.
"Look at these monkeys, the 26,000 firearms we wanted to buy, they don't
want to sell," Duterte said during a televised speech.
"Son of a bitch, we have many home-made guns here. These American
fools."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/02/images/ads/current/graue_sda_june2015.png)
More than 2,300 people have been killed in police operations or by
suspected vigilantes as part of Duterte's anti-narcotics campaign, which
was the lynchpin of his election campaign.
Duterte has vented his anger at the United States for raising concerns
about the extra-judicial killings.
"That's why I was rude at them, because they were rude at me," he said.
According to procedures in Washington, the State Department informs
Congress when international weapons sales are in the works. Aides said
the State Department had been informed Cardin would oppose the deal
during the prenotification process, thus halting the sale.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/110216PICS/news_n21.jpg)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at
Philippines Economic Forum in Tokyo, Japan October 26, 2016.
REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_090916.png)
U.S. State Department officials did not comment.
The Philippine police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, on Tuesday expressed
disappointment that police would not get the M4 rifles, which he
said were reliable.
Duterte reiterated that Russia and China had shown willingness to
sell arms to the Philippines, but he would wait to see if his
military wanted to continue using U.S. weapons.
"Russia, they are inviting us. China also. China is open, anything
you want, they sent me brochure saying we select there, we'll give
you.
"But I am holding off because I was asking the military if they have
any problem. Because if you have, if you want to stick to America,
fine.
"But, look closely and balance the situation, they are rude to us."
(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by
Robert Birsel)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/02/images/ads/current/american_legion_sda_2014.png) |