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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte dealt a major blow to the United States on Tuesday (February 11), after he terminated a two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement-- delivering on threats to downgrade an alliance crucial to U.S. interests. A spokesman for the president - who has clashed with the former colonial ruler over several issues - said he decided to pull the plug on the two-decade troop rotation pact to enable the Philippines to be more independent with its relations with other countries. "As the President said, it's about time we rely on our own resources, we have to strengthen our own capability...

President disapproves of alliance and made decision after ally’s visa was rescinded Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has given formal notice to the US of his decision to scrap a bilateral agreement covering visiting American troops, following through on repeated threats to downgrade the defence alliance. The visiting forces agreement (VFA), signed in 1998, accords legal status to thousands of American troops rotated in the country for humanitarian assistance and military exercises, dozens of which take place annually. Duterte, who has made no secret of his grudge with the US and his disdain for his country’s close military...

The Philippines has banned two U.S. lawmakers from visiting and will introduce tighter entry restrictions for U.S. citizens should Washington enforce sanctions over the detention of a top government critic, the president's spokesman said on Friday. President Rodrigo Duterte will impose a requirement on U.S. nationals to get visas should any Philippine officials involved in the incarceration of Senator Leila de Lima be denied entry to the United States, as sought by U.S. senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy. Duterte's move comes after the U.S. Congress approved a 2020 budget that contains a provision introduced by the senators against anyone...

President Rodrigo Duterte is “sick and tired of the system” and regrets having run for the nation’s top post, given the Philippines’ seemingly insurmountable problems. “I lost my enthusiasm to work. Actually, I deeply regretted it. I regretted my decision to run for president,” Duterte said in the vernacular on Wednesday during the oath-taking of Cagayan de Oro’s newly elected local government officials. The decision to run for president in 2016, the former Davao City mayor claimed, was spurred by his not having lost an election. “[S]ince 1988, I was rising until I became President of this republic. But if...

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday that he was once gay but “cured” himself after meeting his former wife. He made the comments during a trip to Japan where he accused his political opponent Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV of being gay, claiming that the way he moved proves that. "I said, ‘Are you sure?’ They said, ‘You ask any gay person who sees Trillanes move, they'll say he's gay,’” he said, the Filipino news organization Rappler reported. “Good thing Trillanes and I are similar. But I cured myself,” Duterte continued. “When I began a relationship with [ex wife Elizabeth] Zimmerman,...

Filipinos vote on Monday in midterm polls that are being seen as a crucial referendum on Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, unorthodox style and contentious embrace of China. The poll is expected to strengthen his grip on power, opening the way for him to deliver on pledges to restore the death penalty and rewrite the constitution. Duterte has found international infamy for his foul-mouthed tirades, but remains hugely popular among Filipinos fed up with the country’s dysfunction and elite politicians. He wants to bring back capital punishment for drug-related crimes as part of a crackdown on narcotics in...

An anonymous whistle-blower who appeared shrouded by darkness in videos accusing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of earning millions from a drug syndicate has stunned the nation by revealing his identity. The hooded figure known as Bikoy on Monday unveiled himself as a bald, round-faced man with glasses, after claiming in the clips that he used to keep financial records for narcotics dealers who dealt with the Duterte family. Peter Joemel Advincula said he was the man seen in five YouTube videos implicating the president’s son and former aide as “principal” operators in the country’s drug trade. Reaction was swift from...

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday reportedly threatened to "declare war" against Canada within the next week if the country fails to remove tons of garbage that was previously shipped to Manila. Duterte, in remarks aired by state media and reported by The Canadian Press, said he will "give a warning to Canada maybe next week that they better pull that thing out or I will set sail." "I will declare war against them. I will advise Canada that your garbage is on the way. Prepare a grand reception. Eat it if you want to," he said. "Your garbage is...

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte mocked the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity, calling it “silly” on Saturday, December 29. In a speech in Kidapawan City, Cotabato, the President attacked the doctrine of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as he once again went into a tirade against priests and the Catholic Church. "You’re already praying at one God, then you’re going to pray at these cursed saints. There’s only one God. There’s only one God, period. You cannot divide God into 3, that’s silly,” said the President. Before attacking the Holy Trinity doctrine,...

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 5) — The President again lashed out at Catholic bishops and called them useless for criticizing his administration. "Itong mga obispo ninyo, patayin ninyo. Walang silbi yang mga g***ng yan. All they do is criticize," President Rodrigo Duterte said in a speech at an event in Malacañang on Wednesday. [Translation: Your bishops, kill them. These b******s serve no purpose. All they do is criticize.] In a later speech during the awarding of the country's top overseas Filipino workers (OFW), Duterte said the Catholic Church was the most hypocritical institution, and that majority of priests are...

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday expressed his sympathies to families who lost their loved ones during the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong. “I share the grief of those who lost loved ones,” Duterte said in a situation briefing on the effects of "Ompong" in Tuguegarao City. “Those we call in the unforeseen events, in insurance, this is an act of God. I don’t know how it can be an act of God but that is the term used by the insurance,” he added. Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino said at least 25 people died at the height of the...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected an offer by the US defence chief and other top American officials to buy F-16 fighter jets, saying such an acquisition would be “utterly useless” because his country needs lighter combat aircraft to fight insurgents. Duterte scoffed at the offer on Thursday, saying it had been floated in a letter by Defence Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The offer came after he was slammed by the US for his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs, he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday lashed out against the Catholic Church again, breaking his promise of not making anti-Church statements. In a speech in Malacañang, Duterte explained his own concept of what God is, as opposed to the belief of Catholics. “It’s only one God, God the Father. He’s not even the father. He's God, period,” he said. The President then asked if there was a bishop in the audience, before threatening to “kick his ass.” “Is there any bishop here? I want to kick your ass, and the priest,” Duterte asked, eliciting laughter from the audience composed of businessmen...

The American soldiers were eating breakfast in Balangiga’s town square when Filipino villagers, including men disguised in dresses, attacked them with bolo knives. Forty-eight Americans died. The year was 1901 and for the United States Army, the massacre in the central Philippines was the worst since Custer and his troops were slaughtered at the Battle of Little Bighorn, 25 years earlier. In retaliation, the United States commander ordered his forces to kill every male older than 10 and turn the central Philippines island of Samar into a “howling wilderness.” American troops killed civilians, burned houses and destroyed food supplies. They...

MANILA, Philippines – As he opened Mindanao's largest drug rehabilitation center, President Rodrigo Duterte said he has asked God to make sure victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) go to heaven. "You enjoy your human rights there in heaven kasi (because) God promised you that victims of EJKs go to heaven. 'Yan ang sabi ko sa Diyos (that's what I told God)," he said on Friday, August 3. He was giving a speech after unveiling the marker for the P500-million Northern Mindanao Wellness and Reintegration Center donated by a group of Chinese businessmen. The center is touted as proof that his...

THE government is investigating the source of the tarpaulins that suddenly appeared in several places in Manila proclaiming the Philippines as a Province of China. I don’t think this is a prank but that there are sectors in this country that want to call attention to the possibility that at the rate the Duterte government is handling the West Philippine Sea and Scarborough Shoal issues, this country will truly become a province of China. The idea of the Philippines as a Chinese province should not be seen as an impossibility. Even now the Chinese government is already engaged in clear...

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sparked outrage last month when he called God "stupid" for allowing Adam and Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden. In a speech, the president asked, "Who is this stupid God? You created something perfect and then you think of an event that would destroy the quality of your work. How can you rationalize that God? How can you believe him? So now we're all born with an original sin. Even in the womb, we already have sin. What kind of religion is that?" Now, Duterte is apologizing for his rant. Local media reports Duterte...

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine president, who recently sparked outrage for calling God stupid, has courted new controversy in his largely Roman Catholic country by saying he will resign if anybody can prove that God exists. President Rodrigo Duterte, who has had a thorny relationship with the church, questioned anew in a speech late Friday some of the basic tenets of the Catholic faith, including the concept of original sin, which he said taints even innocent infants and can only be removed through baptism in a church for a fee. “Where is the logic of God there?” Duterte asked in...

After ranting about the Catholic Church, the President of the Philippines now has a beef with the concept of 'original sin' in the Genesis creation story MANILA, Philippines – After recent tirades against priests and the Church's "hypocrisy," Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cursed God and called God "stupid" for the concept of "original sin" in the Bible's creation story. Duterte, on Friday, June 22, began with retelling the story of Adam and Eve and how they ate the fruit from the forbidden tree and thus brought original sin upon humankind. "Kinain ni Adam (Adam ate it) then malice was born....

PAGBILAO, Quezon – President Duterte has expressed hope the newfound oil reserve in Cebu province could save the Filipino people from poverty. “I hope that we can tap more oil. And if we really have it in plenty, then maybe, just maybe in the fullest of God’s time we would have to, we will climb higher,” Duterte said in his speech during the inauguration of the 420-megawatt Pagbilao Unit 3 power project by TeaM Energy Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp. held here Thursday afternoon. Duterte was referring to the Alegria Oil Field in Cebu, which he inaugurated on May 19....