MALACAÑANG said on Sunday the most important message delivered by President Duterte to the international community during his first foreign trip last week was the assertion the Philippines will follow its own foreign policy.
“The most important message is, No. 1, we have our own foreign policy to follow,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar said in an interview with government radio station Radyo ng Bayan.
Andanar cited Duterte’s strong commitment to push through with his war against drugs, even amid the international community’s concern over alleged human-rights violations committed by the police in arresting suspects.
“When it comes to questions on human rights, it is imperative before we even ask or question our human-rights policy, we view the context of our question and the context of a campaign, for instance, in a campaign against drugs. We should understand that first,” he said.
Andanar said the countries, with concerns regarding the observance of human rights of suspected criminals in the Philippines, should have the “moral ascendancy” before they can even question the government’s human-rights policy.
Duterte’s political party PDP-Laban also defended him from criticisms against his blunt denunciation of the human-rights record of critics of how his war against drugs is being carried out.
PDP-Laban Policy Studies Group head Jose Antonio Goitia said Duterte’s famous outburst against the United States before he set off for the leaders’ summit of the Asean last week was not a personal attack against US President Barack Obama, but was his reaction to the interference of the US in the domestic affairs of the Philippines.
“In the manner of his usual outbursts, President Duterte cited the long history of US aggression on Philippine soils, in particular, the Bud Dajo Massacre in 1906, with 600 Moros killed by American soldiers,” Goitia said in a statement.
“What President Duterte has done through his statements was something no other Philippine president has done before—to recognize the long history of colonial relations between the US and the Philippines and proclaim the sovereignty of the Philippines as an independent nation,” he added.
Goitia said despite the trumped up “fallout” between the two leaders, he is optimistic a meeting between them will still push through at a later date, as agreed upon last week.
“It is hoped that when this happens, they will treat President Duterte as a head of a sovereign state, as an equal. The US should listen first to where he is coming from before they make an appeal or judgment,” Goitia said.