President Rodrigo Duterte. (File Photo by AARON FAVILA/AP)
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday he was not inclined to send an ambassador to the United States (US).
“Wala tayong ambassador. Walang ambassador pupunta doon. Hanggang wala tayong ambassador sa States, I don’t feel like sending one,” Duterte said his speech at the 38th National Convention of Philippine Association of Water Districts in Davao City.
(“We don’t have an ambassador. No ambassador is going there. As long as we don’t have an ambassador to the States, I don’t feel like sending one.”)
In August 2016, the President said his chief protocol officer, Marciano Paynor, would be the next ambassador to the US, replacing Jose Cuisia Jr.
He also earlier asked columnist and media executive Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez to become the next envoy to the US. But Romualdez declined for health reasons.
The US government, under President Barack Obama, earlier earned the ire of Duterte for criticizing his brutal war on illegal drugs.
He even threatened to sever ties with its longtime ally.
But with the assumption of US President Donald Trump, Duterte said he could work along well with his counterpart. /ATM