Philippines' Duterte rails at U.S. 'monkeys' for halting gun sale

[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."

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.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at Philippines Economic Forum in Tokyo, Japan October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File photo

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)

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