Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte opposed to the prospect of his visiting the White House, saying he would never go to the United States, which he called a "lousy" country.
Duterte was firing back at US senators who criticized abuses during his ‘war on drugs.' The US lawmakers opposed any possible trip by Duterte to America. "There will never be a time that I will go to America during my term, or even thereafter," Duterte said on Friday. The Philippine leader was also surprised that the senators would think he was willing to go to the US. "I've seen America and it's lousy," Duterte said.
The statement came in response to Thursday's hearings at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the US Congress, where senators accused Duterte's domestic anti-drug campaign of widespread abuses and casualties.
The co-chair of the commission, Jim McGovern, opposed a visit by President Duterte to the US, saying that he would protest such a move due to multiple violations of human rights by the leader.
Hitting back at the accusations, Duterte advised Washington to look at its own "sins" and threatened to investigate them, referring to civilian casualties during wars in the Middle East.
"It would be good for the US Congress to start with their own investigation of their own violations of the so many civilians killed in the prosecution of the wars in the Middle East," Duterte stated.
"Otherwise I will be forced to investigate you also. I will start with your past sins."
The possibility of a Duterte visit stems from an April phone conversation between the Philippine leader and his US counterpart.
Last May, Duterte reiterated his commitment to bolstering ties with Russia and China, saying that Western nations are only interested in "double talk." He has already visited Beijing and Moscow signaling a shift in a country that was previously a major US ally in the Asia-Pacific region.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/7640
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