Philippines ‘concerned’ as US tags Duterte threat to democracy
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is not an autocrat and is taking seriously a report by the US intelligence community that names him among the threats to democracy in Southeast Asia, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
The report, produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, places Duterte alongside Cambodia’s Hun Sen, the Rohingya crisis and the Thai military-backed constitution as impediments to democracy.
“We view this declaration from no less than the intelligence department of the United States with some concern,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
There is no revolutionary government or nationwide martial law, which US intelligence officials say Duterte might impose, he added.
PHILIPPINE NEWS SITE BARRED FROM EVENTS
MANILA:
Duterte’s move to ban a critical news website from covering the presidential palace is a threat to press freedom, rights and media groups said on Wednesday.
Rappler, set up in 2012, is among a clutch of Philippine news organisations that have sparred with Duterte over their critical coverage of his drug war which the government says has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 suspects.
Human rights groups claim that that thousands more have been killed by shadowy vigilantes. AGENCIES