It appears there are no limits to what Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte will do or say. After admiting that his government had killed 400 drug dealers in the last month alone, Duterte’s latest victim is none other than the US’ Ambassador to the Phillipines Philip Goldberg.
As reported earlier this week, Duterte met with both Goldberg and John Kerry in late July to discuss the response to Manila winning an international court case against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague. Kerry… is “okay, but I had an argument with their ambassador, that bakla [homosexual]. Son of a bitch, he really annoys me.” There is no record of Goldberg publicly identifying as gay, indicating Duterte meant to use the word purely derisively.”
The two seen during less turbulent times
The feud between Goldberg and Duterte stems from the time that the Philippine was still a presidential candidate. During the campaign, Duterte made a joke about a gang rape episode that took place during his time as governor. He said the rape of a young woman in Davao City, where he served as mayor for 22 years, was only a tragedy because he himself did not get to have sex with her first. “Any statements by anyone, anywhere that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder, are not ones that we condone,” Goldberg said at the time.
Goldberg at the time replied “Any statements by anyone, anywhere that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder, are not ones that we condone.”
Then-candidate Duterte responded with a promise he has yet to accomplish: he said he would sever all diplomatic ties with the US and would give the US “a shit” if Goldberg did not “shut your mouth.
And to think that the US media accuses Donald Trump of having no verbal block.
On Friday, Duterte once again complained about Goldberg’s statement against his “joke.” “Interfering in elections, giving statements here and there. You’re not supposed to do that,” he complained. Duterte also praised himself for insulting Americans. “This is great!” he told the audience, “let’s insult them again so these fools try to make amends again.”
This follows after Kerry inked a deal for America to provide the Philippines with $32 million to use in Duterte’s war on drugs, a cornerstone of his presidential campaign.
Given Duterte’s current track record, perhaps it is time for Goldberg to move out of the Philippines and into safety, and perhaps it is also time for the US to reevaluate its foreign policy with "historical" allies.
via http://ift.tt/2bfEofc Tyler Durden