Pres. Duterte vows to give coup plotters a good fight
MANILA, Dec. 29 (PNA) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday promised to give his coup plotters a good fight, including former United States ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg whom he accused of undermining government.
“You may be able to oust me but I will give you a good fight, I’ll give you a bloody nose,” President Duterte said in two separate one-on-one interviews with CNN Philippines and ABS-CBN News Channel.
Last Tuesday, Manila-based newspaper Manila Times reported that Goldberg has allegedly left a “blueprint” or a recommendation to the US State Department to remove President Duterte from Malacanang.
“In the matter of the credible news, kind of maybe, you may have some an inkling of how this guy operates, because most of the ambassadors of the United States, but not all, are not really professional ambassadors,” President Duterte said.
“Those career at the same time, they do spying. They are really connected with the CIA. That’s how it is. The ambassador of a country is the number one spy, but there are ambassadors of the United States, their forte is really to undermine government,” he added.
President Duterte said Goldberg was expelled as ambassador of Bolivia “because he was undermining the native President there.”
“And Goldberg started to dig under, to erode the foundation of the presidency and he was expelled persona non grata,” the President said.
President Duterte, however, said he is ready to defend the presidency which he won in the last May 9 elections with 16 million votes or six million margin over his closest rival.
“This is my message to the United States and to everybody, to those out there on the streets, and for those who are demanding my resignation: you know, I feel that I have to honor the contract with the people,” the President said.
President Duterte said he does not need presidency “at this time of my life” but he promised to work hard to fulfill his campaign promises particularly his fight against illegal drugs, criminal and corruption.
“If the people would say I am eagerly happy, I said I don’t need it at this time of my life. But since I ran for the position and I won, so I have to honor the contract,” the 72-year-old Filipino leader said. (PNA)
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