Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told United States President Barack Obama to “go to hell”, saying the US had refused to sell weapons to the Philippines, Reuters reported. Duterte added that he was considering altering the relationship between the two nations, and that at some point, he will “break up with America”.
“If you don’t want to sell arms, I’ll go to Russia,” Duterte said in Manila. He added that both Moscow and China had expressed their willingness to sell arms to the Philippines. Duterte further said that the US was not a reliable ally, and his country had not benefited from its joint military combat exercises with Washington, according to The Guardian.
However, the US said it had not received any request to modify aspects of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. “This is an alliance that is robust and that benefits both of our countries,” White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said. Earnest added that Washington will “not hesitate to raise” concerns about the “extrajudicial killings” of more than 3,000 drug dealers in the Philippines.
Duterte has been under the scanner of various international human rights bodies that have accused him of the killings. The Philippines’ relationship with the US has been strained since Duterte took office. On Friday, September 30, the president compared himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, triggering shock and anger among Jewish groups. Earlier this month, he had warned Obama to not challenge him over the alleged “extrajudicial killings” and called him a “son of a bitch”.
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