Duterte on US relations: 'No more military exercises' | Talk to Al Jazeera

We are at the Presidential Palace in Manila, which marks just over 100 days of Rodrigo Dette's presidency, in a first exclusive interview since he was sworn in. We spoke with him about his controversial War on Drugs and his foreign policy, including deteriorating

relations

with the United States. United States and potentially warm

relations

with China, the president, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Rodrigo Roa, discouraged

talk

s with Al Jazer in the first part of our interview with the president, said he defended his war on drugs in this For half an hour we will

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about foreign policy. he is really moving his country away from the United States and if so he will move closer to China and why is he insulting so many foreign leaders.

I don't think anyone can deny it, no matter how controversial what you accomplished. in his election campaign promise to crack down on drugs, yes, one thing he has not yet fulfilled is his promise to ride a jet ski to the disputed territory in the South China Sea and plant the Philippine flag there, now a lot of people, a lot I guess the voters took that as a sign that you were going to be tough on China in that disputed territory in southern China, so you're the western Philippines, but you haven't been, why do you really think I would go to Riding I don't even own it yet no I'm not but people perceived it as a sign that you were going to be tough on China, it was hyperbial literally you can't expect to ride.

I don't even know how to swim and if it's overturned then you lose a president down the road, so why did you say that? So what did you mean? Yes, hyperbole to emphasize a point that we're not giving up anything there, but your recent statements tend to indicate that you're willing to give up some territory, it doesn't, uh, no one's going to give up my ruling that it's in our favor. You can't, I can't give it up, no one can give it up, no one in the Constitution allows anyone to give it up. Not even the president can give it up.

Those are our rights. This is an island. Everyone, every country in this world, has their own fish pond, that is their fish, and where they get the fish, the shells and everything, they cannot give it up, they can only negotiate. Prevent war, remember that we are okay. I'll take your logic to this logical conclusion, we have this judgment, right, two things I can do. I can get angry because it is being occupied, but remember that there is no sovereignty. The attached right is sovereignty, okay, the other is to rage and fight and the other is to speak, what do you think will happen to my country if I choose to go to war?

I fight alone or I would call the other. countries that help me those who die for my country except us like this we can only talk and that is why they invited me to talks I will go but I will go with this paper a blank page president yes I said this is the prize I cannot go beyond the limits of this document , let's talk, let's talk, let's start here The Philippines wants a landmark case against China unprecedented in recent history a smaller country facing a superpower declared China's n-h claim invalid now you're going to China and I've mentioned before that you said that he will not insist on the Philippines' position on the Scarboro SH, now his critics are wondering why it appears that he will go to China and negotiate from a position of weakness instead of strength.

It would be arrogant to go there and say, I'm going to go there to fight for this and that you know, there's a lot to learn in history and even in books and the way that Easterners put words in their mouths, especially. the Chinese have to go there with a little courtesy but when they are already in front uh uh another one then said this is no let's go what would I be what would be the purpose of going there without this for what but can you guarantee the Filipino people that you are not going to give up or give up hope or stop fighting for spratley scar BR sh yes, in the first phili territory no one but no one, not even the president of this country, can give up Claim that you are not allowed to do that, that is a sure way to go to impeachment, but can you guarantee that you will fight to stay the course?

Nobody is going to give up anything. I said that if the Constitution doesn't allow you to do it, then who can? not even your mouth, that's how it is, what deals you expect to make when you go to China, well, maybe let's talk about it, I would know, I wouldn't know where, so I would start then, uh, the, the, the critical thing. We will address other issues on trade and if there is some agreement, if we want to reach a happy agreement, then we can talk about China Sea rights, but I can't really predict anything solid to talk about. about until I'm there so uh uh I won't be there until I'm there could you talk about the war on drugs because records show that a lot of the drugs that come to the Philippines come from China.

They understand it, that's why they would like to help, but you know that China is now a democracy. I mean, communist is just something used to maintain control, but it's all free enterprise. Mr. President, you have clearly distanced yourself from the United States. Why do you think this is so? The country needs to distance itself from its former ally in Asia just because I'm going to China doesn't mean I'm moving away from the United States, but you talked about following a different paradigm. What I am saying is that please don't be too rude to us because if you think we are bad you are in bad company you are free to leave I mean what kind of friend are you that instead of following the normal process of due process for my country when I was mayor it was fine but when I was president you must be careful because whether you like it or not I may be insignificant to you but I carry the burden of sovereignty so if you start insulting me at the international level, without entering into an illegal investigation, then you shame all Filipinos, so are you saying that if the United States had not publicly criticized the War on Drugs, then relations would be normal now as they have been for many decades?

Let's say that if the United States had followed the normal procedure of bringing a country's attention to a certain violation that would affect the law of humanity, it could have simply followed the depleted uranium process that is normally granted to everyone by going to the United Nations United to ventilate it. the complaint, if you can, for other people, then demand that there be an investigation, it should start in the internal body of the United Nations because we or the Philippines is a member of the United Nations, so if they had made those relations It would be normal now the ties

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would be normal I said I said this orientalist just keep in mind that we are not used to being bombus and just you know sir you know that serious violations could result in the cutting of AIDS which is not acceptable to us we actually call it in our dialect uh bo boy and in tagalog it's a beating you, you, you, you give things to say, oh, I give you these things and you're not doing what I want. a very serious, very serious mistake, which is why lately there have been some contradictory statements on

military

relations, particularly between the Philippines and the US, contradictory statements from you and some other members of your government.

Can we clarify a couple of things? Yes, military ties, eh, military? The

exercises

with the US end now, end now, okay, will you move away from the enhanced defense cooperation agreement that was signed by your predecessor do a review with the military authorities? How do you feel now? Which direction are you leaning? They should know my feeling but it would depend on the advice of the military what is your feeling uh but they know my feeling everyone knows my feeling you know my feeling that you will end that yes because I said yes I am if I am in bad company then why Be patient , so there's no point in that, but you're basically saying that I said I have to consult the military.

You also have a mutual defense agreement. Mutual defense treaty that was signed in 1951. Will you walk away from that? I don't. I can't repeal it now. Let me ask you this question and tell me frankly, is it really necessary for me to maintain military ties with anyone and even just with Africa and Somalia? Now let me ask you this question having said that if there really is a third world war in which all the ICBMs and the posid and the ground air base and in disg if it is going to be a third war then everyone pushes their nuclear power China, Russia And the United States, would there be enough time to talk about World War III?

Maybe not, but their relationships go much deeper than that. So with the US going to disaster relief, things like that, aren't you putting all that at risk? I don't think they are there to help us, but they were in Ty Hyan just a few years ago, oh what a typhoon, that's not it. job and if they want, they can give it up, other nations will come or we will die twice as much, so hyan is just a creation of climate change that industrial countries also created, they help grow, you know, in terms of gas. emissions we are here we would like to reach this limit but what to see everything is not a relationship and proportion along the way it seems stupid you have reached the heights of industrialization all these years you were consuming all the carbon from the gas and all Traces that we had little or It had nothing What to do with that now, we would like Rich to be where you are now, but they are also controlled because like this and until the end of the world it will always be like this, that is how IND countries really work.

Come, we, you, you go to our house in Paris or we go to Canada or South America, then we will discuss it, but you know we have this type. We'd like to help you, but don't try to catch up. us and it will overtake us because it would contribute a lot of carbon emissions and who is responsible for the climate was responsible for who was responsible for the tornado monsters torn apart and it's a yearning country we had nothing to do with wait Mr. President yeah , Filipinos love Historically, the United States is the strongest ally in Asia.

If you distance yourself from him, don't worry because it will be an unpopular decision among your people in the first place. If they had not been here in the Philippines, there would not have been a second world war for us. In the battle of Banila about 200,000 people died, they say that the enemies came because they were there. First of all, they also stayed here for 50 years and that's why the enemies came because they know they are here. Imagine the Philippines without American, why have the Japanese sent so many battalions and their imperial armies to occupy this island?

So you think it would be better if you go back in time. What would be the point of sending your unless you occupy? Do you want to occupy? By the way, the world is watching the United States right now with the election campaign going on there, who would you rather work with in the White House, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, you ask me after this because I said eh, I am the President of a sovereign state, we are not supposed to say anything about politics there, unlike the US ambassador when he asked a question in a speech of mine about women being insulted about women, it was not a narration of an event. what really happened and that's why I said you can check it so you're saying I said those words in anger when I saw the women dead and raped so you wouldn't reveal now who you'd rather collaborate with between Clinton and Trump I I I I have my preferences preferences , of course, it is obvious to you who, who, she or whom, be careful with her and him.

You are quite a controversial figure, in fact you are currently possibly the most controversial controversial figure globally right now. You have cursed Obama, you have told the EU and the United Nations basically to say: go to hell, you think?, and many people are quite surprised by such statements. Do you think you have effectively fulfilled your duty as a country? Stop Diplomatic, yes, I will tell you the secret of why my behavior, because they did not give me the opportunity to explain and if I did, no one listened to me and the lies that began about this extrajudicial executions continued. piling up, it was boxed in, I could read it every day and you know there are Filipinos who may or may not agree with them and that's why they call why don't you answer and I kept answering but no one explained to me not even the local newspapers what my defense would be for calling your attention except seeing nonsense now when I said nonsense huh, everyone was interested now so what is insult can be a defense?

The insult can be a defense. I say mind so it was only when he started saying SPO c words epets curses that this why is this guy this guy is something new is uncivilized and c and everything okay you can come everything listen to what I'm saying now so I have this with everyone later of this there is another and there is another: do you agree with your spokesperson that everything you say is subject to creative interpretation? Don't you mean what you say? You know you're from here. You know the usual connotation of putang Ina is a c-word, it's actually the usual slang, our language, son of a, ladies, would you Salan or son of aaan?

No English phrase is ever interpreted as son of a, you can ask anyone in the media and anywhere we never connote son of a with son of but don't you think the word is pretty terrible, but don't you think the role of a president when you address another president of another country that there is a certain level of language certain certain level of behavior that is expected yes, I tried to respond to Oba but my responses were never published I could not even hear my own words my explanation, even you told him to go to help yes because that is the time now that he would listen to my explanation no no one was publishing it not even here and and I said that was a very rude thing I said uh no matter how important it may seem to you please don't do that because I am president of a country.

I have to ask this: he has publicly criticized the United States for the atrocities he committed during the first American war in the early 20th century. Those atrocities have now been committed against moral Muslims in the southern Philippines, but his critics question why he has remained generally silent about much greater atrocities recently committed by the dictatorial regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos. It is a political question that in reality there is no need to repeat it every day because if there is no reason to insist on it and you say why are we talking about Marcos, we are talking here about Obama then it is already there uh I I I I Uh in in a sense I was there that night too they think the reason you didn't mention it is because you are allied with the Marcus family here no it's politics everything is politics if they want to support me and they did during the last election okay It's in the numbers, but I don't have to repeat, uh, the Revolution Ed. every day before breakfast and say it with my prayer You said that former President Ferdinand Marcos was the best president of the Philippines and yet he ruled with a fist of iron he was a dictator thousands of people were murdered his talent is ability is useless with his desire to perpetuate himself, okay, that's another thing, that's another, I mean the cerebral war of a person, what happens if You feel frustrated by the democratic processes in this country, by the bureaucracy and by trying to do things democratically, will you consider returning? this country to a dictatorship, interestingly, now you see what is happening now, how many hours did it take to travel?

Sir, to travel here, yes, how many hours it took, it may take hours, well, they are giving me emergency powers, I think it is not necessary. get into a Marshall thing uh uh I I I I I have a feeling that Congress is also pretty helpful in the sense that they're considering giving me emergency powers minus the bidder, all you have to do is say, okay, you're a big company. . I have a history, it's something like that and what's the next step after that, although well, it's the next step when it says it's only valid for 200 days, it's valid for 200 days, then you stop it and then you go back to the building.

What do you mean uh? I can't answer your question, but it would be something if this country was still moror if you get frustrated with the long Democratic process, the long legal process of getting things done when you're only six years old. Could you contra? I think it's really pathetic because you know, politics and all that, but our government is so designed in such a way that everyone has to have their cake and eat it too. You are a very controversial figure. Some of your methods are. seen as almost authoritarian, a lot of people are getting nervous and people would like to know where they are taking this country.

I don't know, I have yet to remember what I did, that would indicate that I have the traces of being dictatorial from day one, the cursing and the jargon, the Evitat, but I can't remember an incident here, an event that indicates at least that I have traces of being or tending to be dictatorial, let's put it that way. I have always been a good boy, a holy man. In this, well, we are just over 100 days into his presidency. He now has just under six years left in his term. From a personal point of view, the stress of work, the criticism, the long hours, how do you think you are going to handle the next few years?

At the age of 71 I was in the hospital last night CU I had this rush, I don't know where it came from my whole body itched yesterday there was a program and I couldn't help but scratch my body. I have to have

more

problems with my little ones. He rushes and everything yesterday was all R inside and I could. I can barely stop myself from scratching everywhere uh well uh it's uh it actually contributes a lot to a person's comfort zone where you feel like uh when you work at night you feel good you sleep uh feeling good we those are the things that uh those are the luxuries What is here but you have to be here because this is a zone of power how would you like to be remembered as president what would be your legacy what would you like it to be now just say that Rodrigo Rodrigo

duterte

he did the best he could, Mr.

President, thank you very much for speaking alertly, thank you