Duterte looking for ‘very dynamic, proactive’ PH reps to UN, US

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Duterte looking for ‘very dynamic, proactive’ PH reps to UN, US

Manman Dejeto

President Rodrigo Duterte is still scouting for the country's representatives to the United States and the United Nations, both on the receiving end of his tirades and 'jokes'


MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte is still searching for a “very dynamic” Philippine permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) and a “proactive” ambassador to the United States.

“We need a very dynamic UN representative and of course, in our dealings with the United States, we need a very proactive ambassador,” Duterte said in his speech at the 10th Eastern Mindanao Command anniversary in Davao City on Friday, August 26.

He made the satement while telling the troops that his administration “nearly lost” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana when the Cabinet official was suggested as the next Philippine envoy to the US or UN.

Lorenzana, a retired army general, was the Philippines’ military attaché to the US from 2002 to 2004, and special presidential representative for Veterans Affairs at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, from 2004 to 2015.

The President had offered – for the second time– former defense chief Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr to take over the Department of National Defense, should Lorenzana accept the diplomatic post.

Teodoro, the President said, declined the offer. Lorenzana, who is turning 68 this year, was also not keen on the ambassadorial post, citing the difficulty of living abroad again at his age.

The Philippines has no ambassador to the US, as Jose Cuisia, an appointee of former president Benigno Aquino III, vacated the post when the new administration took over.

Talking to soldiers in Davao City, the President cited the importance of carefully selecting the country’s representatives to the US and the UN.

“Well our relationship with the United States, as far as I’m concerned, it is going well but there are certain matters na ‘yung [in terms of] dynamics sa [in] governance,” Duterte said.

He pointed to the “drug crisis” in the Philippines, and the gravity of the problem which he is trying to address.

The US and the UN have been on the receiving end of Duterte’s tirades.

The President’s crude criticism of US Ambassador Philip Goldberg during a public event had prompted the US to summon Patrick Chuasoto, the diplomat in charge of the Philippine embassy in Washington DC, to explain the President’s statement.

The US has also expressed concern over the spate of killings following the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. Turning the tables on the US, Duterte said that US policemen have been “killing blacks.”

Duterte’s attack on Goldberg stemmed from an incident during the campaign period, when the US envoy, was responding to questions in an interview, spoke against the joke made by Duterte about the 1989 rape of an Australian missionary.

Apparently referring to the UN, Duterte claimed that the international body “broke protocol” by criticizing him when he was already the Philippine president.

“You do not go out outside of the media and start blabbering your mouth because I represent a sovereign state. However you do not like it, that is not my business. My business really is to protect the people of the Philippines and to keep intact the integrity of this Republic,” the President said.

Two UN human rights experts, special rapporteurs Agnes Callamard and Dainius Pūras, had criticized the Philippines’ war against drugs and the extrajudicial killings that it is believed to have spurred.

Such criticism had angered Duterte, who challenged the UN experts to a public debate on the subject. It also prompted him to “joke” about a Philippine exit from the UN. – Rappler.com

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