By Genalyn D. Kabiling
Malacañang has summoned United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim to discuss the latest US threat assessment on President Duterte and sought to provide “accurate information” about the administration and other realities on the ground.
The meeting was called by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea in Malacañang last Thursday, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
“Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea summoned United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim yesterday, Feb. 22, where they discussed the latest US Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment report,” Roque said.
He said Medialdea has directed the Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C., “to coordinate and engage with the US agencies involved in the writing of the assessment.”
Medialdea likewise directed embassy officials to provide the US with “accurate information on the realities happening on the ground in the Philippines,” Roque said.
The information must include actions taken by the President and his administration to promote socioeconomic development for the country and provide a safe and secure environment for all Filipinos, “respecting at all times the rule of law,” Roque added.
The US Intelligence Community recently released its worldwide threat assessment report, warning that democracy and human rights in many Southeast Asian countries would remain fragile this year.
The report, produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, also noted that autocratic tendencies deepen in some regimes while rampant corruption and cronyism undermine democratic values.
On the Philippine leader, it cited Duterte’s pronouncement that “he could suspend the Constitution, declare a “revolutionary government,” and impose nationwide martial law.”
Malacañang has dismissed the US intelligence community’s assessment on the President as “myopic and speculative at best.”
