An independent foreign policy anchored on “sovereign equality” will be President Duterte’s guiding principle in dealing with other nations
“We will observe and I must insist, I repeat, I must insist on the time honored principles of sovereign equality, non-interference and commitment to peaceful settlements,” Duterte said after arriving from the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and a working visit to Indonesia. He reported bringing up before ASEAN leaders, with US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in attendance, his case against the US for human rights violations supposedly committed against Filipino Muslims at the turn of the century. Upon his arrival in Davao City, the President told the media about China’s pledge to help in the administration’s anti-drug campaign. “There will be plenty and China has committed to help us. I do not think that it has placed its limits there... And I said that we have this problem about, a serious, grave problem about drugs,” he said. “And I informed the body that as a matter of fact China has offered its help, to which we responded with gratitude. We need it,” the President said. “We are short – I said I am, I entered the presidency midterm. We have no more capital expenses, expenditure; only MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses),” he pointed out. Duterte reiterated he was surprised to realize the drug problem in the country was worse than he had expected. “I thought all the while that I was controlling drugs in the City of Davao fairly well. But sometimes, with, you know, the drawbacks of being… you blurt some threats and intimidation. But I think it’s legal and necessary,” he said. Earlier in Indonesia, Duterte said he would do his best to improve the lives of Filipinos even if it would mean antagonizing the international community. “I am the President of the Republic of the Philippines, not the republic of the international community,” he said. “I will suppress drugs and in the fullness of God’s time, maybe two years. You can walk about in the Philippines, free of the fear of being mugged. But you have to pray, not because you love me, you have to pray because you need to,” he pointed out. He said drugs destroy families, especially of overseas workers whose children would usually end up hooked on drugs “Nobody in the horizon of the political arena was talking about the seriousness of the drug problem. Nobody was talking about the number of crimes committed against the innocent and hapless civilians, everywhere. Nobody was talking about graft and corruption,” he said. “It was the naked truth that was really very, very terrifying,” he said of the drug menace. “There were about three million already infected with drugs, with about 600,000 voluntarily surrendering and admitting their involvement to be able to avail of the government’s rehabilitative programs,” Duterte noted. Meanwhile, former information minister and senator Francisco Tatad urged President Duterte to control his mouth. Tatad, the information minister during the Marcos regime, said Duterte should focus on talking about “earthshaking” issues that would be beneficial to the people. “In my experience, the president seldom talked. I did the talking most of the time. I handled arguments, defense, and if there were really earthshaking issues, then that’s the only time he would speak as president of the republic,” he said in Filipino. Duterte had rained expletives on US President Barack Obama and UN chief Ban Ki-moon before he left for the ASEAN summit. An independent foreign policy anchored on “sovereign equality” will be President Duterte’s guiding principle in dealing with other nations. “We will observe and I must insist, I repeat, I must insist on the time honored principles of sovereign equality, non-interference and commitment to peaceful settlements,” Duterte said after arriving from the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and a working visit to Indonesia. He reported bringing up before ASEAN leaders, with US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in attendance, his case against the US for human rights violations supposedly committed against Filipino Muslims at the turn of the century. Upon his arrival in Davao City, the President told the media about China’s pledge to help in the administration’s anti-drug campaign. “There will be plenty and China has committed to help us. I do not think that it has placed its limits there... And I said that we have this problem about, a serious, grave problem about drugs,” he said. “And I informed the body that as a matter of fact China has offered its help, to which we responded with gratitude. We need it,” the President said. “We are short – I said I am, I entered the presidency midterm. We have no more capital expenses, expenditure; only MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses),” he pointed out. Duterte reiterated he was surprised to realize the drug problem in the country was worse than he had expected. “I thought all the while that I was controlling drugs in the City of Davao fairly well. But sometimes, with, you know, the drawbacks of being… you blurt some threats and intimidation. But I think it’s legal and necessary,” he said. Earlier in Indonesia, Duterte said he would do his best to improve the lives of Filipinos even if it would mean antagonizing the international community. “I am the President of the Republic of the Philippines, not the republic of the international community,” he said. “I will suppress drugs and in the fullness of God’s time, maybe two years. You can walk about in the Philippines, free of the fear of being mugged. But you have to pray, not because you love me, you have to pray because you need to,” he pointed out. He said drugs destroy families, especially of overseas workers whose children would usually end up hooked on drugs. “Nobody in the horizon of the political arena was talking about the seriousness of the drug problem. Nobody was talking about the number of crimes committed against the innocent and hapless civilians, everywhere. Nobody was talking about graft and corruption,” he said. “It was the naked truth that was really very, very terrifying,” he said of the drug menace. “There were about three million already infected with drugs, with about 600,000 voluntarily surrendering and admitting their involvement to be able to avail of the government’s rehabilitative programs,” Duterte noted. Meanwhile, former information minister and senator Francisco Tatad urged President Duterte to control his mouth. Tatad, the information minister during the Marcos regime, said Duterte should focus on talking about “earthshaking” issues that would be beneficial to the people. “In my experience, the president seldom talked. I did the talking most of the time. I handled arguments, defense, and if there were really earthshaking issues, then that’s the only time he would speak as president of the republic,” he said in Filipino. Duterte had rained expletives on US President Barack Obama and UN chief Ban Ki-moon before he left for the ASEAN summit. Tatad said the Palace should appoint only one person who would speak for the president. “The problem is everyone wants a piece of the action,” he said.
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Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa has ordered all PNP members to undergo marksmanship training, and those who fail will be disarmed to prevent them from causing collateral damage. Dela Rosa admitted that on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 as the best, the average marksmanship in the PNP is 6 to 7.5. “I will disarm those who will fail. They are not qualified to hold firearms because they are not good shooters. They are not proficient,” he told reporters yesterday at the start of the three-day Chief PNP Bato Cup in Lipa, Batangas. “They might cause collateral damage in their surroundings if they will continuing possessing guns. They are not competent after all,” he added. Dela Rosa said police officers good at shooting would be tapped to share their talent with other policemen. Police officers who can’t shoot straight will lose their service firearms. Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa has ordered all PNP members to undergo marksmanship training, and those who fail will be disarmed to prevent them from causing collateral damage. Dela Rosa admitted that on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 as the best, the average marksmanship in the PNP is 6 to 7.5. “I will disarm those who will fail. They are not qualified to hold firearms because they are not good shooters. They are not proficient,” he told reporters yesterday at the start of the three-day Chief PNP Bato Cup in Lipa, Batangas. “They might cause collateral damage in their surroundings if they will continuing possessing guns. They are not competent after all,” he added. Dela Rosa said police officers good at shooting would be tapped to share their talent with other policemen. “I am directing them henceforth to train policemen in their respective units. They should share their ability, skills, knowledge in shooting to improve the level of competency in marksmanship of policemen,” he added. The PNP chief also instructed the Directorate for Human Resources and Doctrine Development (DHRDD) to revive the gun proficiency training and test for policemen. “So before the third quarter ends, we have to conduct the test so that we would know the passing average,” he said. He clarified that improving marksmanship does not mean policemen have to shoot drug pushers dead. “I have to make sure that my men are always alive after every encounter… but it doesn’t mean you have to kill all the suspects. That is not my order,” Dela Rosa said. “My order is to arrest the suspects based on police operational procedures and we have to respect the rule of law always, all the time. That’s what we are here for,” he added. The PNP chief expressed belief that previous leaders had different priorities and improving the shooting skills of policemen was not among them. For this reason, Dela Rosa said the PNP under him would prioritize the shooting skills of police officers and the budget will come from maintenance and other operating (MOOE) expenses of the PNP. “We have MOOE for bullets so what we will do is to monitor if it is really used to buy bullets for the practice of the police force,” he added. Dela Rosa noted that if policemen are good at shooting, criminals would not engage them. 
