Manila rejects US intel report branding Duterte threat to democracy
MANILA: The Philippines on Wednesday rejected a US Intelligence Community (IC) report branding President Rodrigo Duterte a threat to democracy and human rights in the region.
A Worldwide Threat Assessment produced by the office of the director of US National Intelligence listed Duterte, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai officials as among “regional leaders” who undermine democratic values and human rights.
Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque called the assessment “myopic” and “speculative at best.”
The president “is no autocrat,” Roque added. “He adheres to the rule of law and remains loyal to the constitution.”
The IC report, dated Feb. 13, said Duterte “will continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption, and crime.”
He “has suggested he could suspend the Constitution, declare a revolutionary government, and impose nationwide martial law,” the report added.
“His declaration of martial law in Mindanao, responding to the ISIS (Daesh)-inspired siege of Marawi City, has been extended through the end of 2018.”
But Roque said the media in the Philippines is still able to broadcast and print what it wants, the judiciary continues to function “as usual,” the legislature “remains independent and basic services are still being delivered.”
He added: “There is no revolutionary government or nationwide martial law … While it is true that the administration uses and maximizes social media to promote government messages and accomplishments, members of the political opposition and other cause-oriented groups use the same media platform to advance their agenda.”
Political analyst Mon Casiple said the IC report is consistent with the US strategy of maintaining dominance in Southeast Asia.
“It sees the Duterte administration's independent policy as a threat, not the human rights posture or democracy issue,” he said, adding that Myanmar has a much worse problem with human rights, as does Cambodia with democracy.
“While both are also problems in the Philippines, they don't rise to the level of a regional threat.”
The IC assessment said Cambodia's prime minister “will repress democratic institutions and civil society, manipulate government and judicial institutions, and use patronage and political violence to guarantee his rule beyond the 2018 national election.”
Meanwhile, “the crisis resulting from the exodus of more than 600,000 Rohingyas from Burma (Myanmar) to Bangladesh will threaten Burma's fledgling democracy, increase the risk of violent extremism, and provide openings for Beijing to expand its influence,” the report added.
And “Thailand's leaders have pledged to hold elections in late 2018, but the new Constitution will institutionalize the military's influence.”
Rikard Jalkebro, a security expert at the School of International Relations, University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said he is not overly surprised by the report.
Many of the things it says about the Philippines are “actually things that Duterte himself has said and has been open about,” Jalkebro told Arab News. “These things are clearly measures and moves against democratic values.”
Opposition Sen. Antonito Trillanes IV, a staunch critic of Duterte, called the report a “warning shot that he's nearing that red line, because domestically he's pushing boundaries because he's popular enough to do that.”
Leaders of militant and human rights groups told Arab News that the report confirms what many Filipinos already know.
“It's very obvious to many Filipinos, especially the poor, who see Duterte's anti-people policies taking root, especially with the impact of the ongoing war on drugs, martial law in Mindanao and his fear-mongering, which affects many sectors in society, including women, human rights defenders and indigenous peoples,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan (the Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights). “This report merely validates what many of Filipinos think about Duterte's rule.”