PERHAPS the threat to curse United States (US) President Barack Obama isn鈥檛 enough.
President Duterte on Tuesday lashed out at Obama and the European Union anew, which aired concerned over the increasing death toll in the administration鈥檚 war against illegal drugs.
Duterte blasted the US anew after reaffirming his earlier pronouncement that he will make a close ally out of China and Russia.
鈥淚nstead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell,鈥� Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: 鈥淏etter choose purgatory, hell is filled up.鈥�
鈥淪o you can go to hell. Mr. Obama, you can go to hell,鈥� Duterte said at the 3rd Sulong Pilipinas 2016 convention in Makati City.
And for the EU, the President said 鈥渂etter choose purgatory.鈥�
After his working visit to Vietnam, the Commander in Chief threatened to pull the plugs on the implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) between the Philippines and the US.
He noted that the Edca, which was challenged in the Supreme Court by its critics was not signed by his predecessor, former President Benigno S. Aquino III.
Angered by U.S. criticism, Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting U.S. troops in the country. He said he wanted them out of the volatile south, saying their presence has inflamed restiveness among minority Muslims, which could complicate efforts to forge a peace accord with Muslim insurgents.
Duterte has announced he will not allow the Philippine navy to conduct joint patrols with the U.S. military in the disputed South China Sea because it could spark an armed conflict in Philippine territory.
Still, Duterte has said he will not abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. and will maintain the long alliance with America, one of his country鈥檚 largest trading partners and provider of development and military aid and defense equipment.
Last week, Duterte said the joint U.S.-Philippine combat exercises to be held this week, the first of his presidency, would also be the last of his tenure. The exercises, centering on amphibious landing drills, started Tuesday under some uncertainty because of those remarks.
Marine commanders from both sides said at the opening ceremony that the exercises, involving 1,100 American and 400 Filipino military personnel, are aimed at improving readiness by the two countries to respond to a range of crises while deepening their historic ties.
U.S. Embassy officials said Washington has not been formally notified by the Philippine government of any move to scrap other planned drills. Such a move by the Philippines would impede Washington鈥檚 plans to expand the footprint of U.S. forces in Southeast Asia to counter China.
A Philippine military spokesman for the ongoing exercises, Capt. Ryan Lacuesta, sidestepped the question of whether Duterte鈥檚 remarks have affected the troops and the atmosphere of the drills, partly staged to improve camaraderie between the two combat forces.
鈥淎s much as I would like to answer that question, I would leave that to higher authorities,鈥� Lacuesta said Tuesday.
U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. John Jansen said that aside from promoting regional security, the exercises have helped save lives in terms of fostering more rapid and organized responses to disasters like Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
Citing a much-awaited drill that involves American and Filipino marines wading ashore in an amphibious beach landing and in boat raids, Jansen said the exercise 鈥渋s not just about projecting power from the sea, it is about growing a capability.鈥�
Just last week, the President said that he would be 鈥渉appy to slaughter鈥� three million drug addicts in the Philippines, noting that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler killed 鈥�3 million Jews.鈥�
鈥淏akit ako matakot sa inyo? Sabi nila, 鈥漎an si Duterte, Hitler 鈥榶an eh, maraming pinapatay,'鈥� he said.
(Why should I be afraid of them? They say, 鈥楧uterte is like Hitler, he killed a lot of people.)
鈥淥h sige si Hitler na lang ako. Papatayin ko ang mga durugista鈥� he added.
(All right! I鈥檓 Hitler, I will kill drug addicts)
Duterte鈥檚 profanity-laced remarks against the critics of his deadly drug war recently made international headlines.
He later apologized to the Jewish community after receiving condemnation from the international community.
He鈥檚 not making a comparison, he said, he was just making a point.
鈥淚 apologized. It is not politically correct for me to say that. And if I ruffle the feathers of the Jewish community, may I say 鈥業鈥檓 sorry,'鈥� he said.
Hitting the media once again, he also lamented that the image of the country and Filipinos were affected after he was portrayed as a mass murderer. With a report from AP