Duterte on PH foreign relations: I also studied diplomacy

DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte, who frequently blasts Western countries for alleged meddling in Philippine affairs, on Sunday said he studied foreign service but nobody wanted to believe him.

That is probably because of his policies that tend to isolate the Philippines from the global community, like withdrawing the country from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court, and expelling Australian Catholic nun Patricia Fox, a missionary who championed the rights of the poor.

Not only AB

There is also the deteriorating diplomatic row with Kuwait.

“I said I took up foreign service but others would not believe me. [They said I just took up] AB. Of course, my major is political science, then on the sides I was taking diplomatic practice and procedure. That is a subject when we were [in school],” the President told reporters here on Sunday after arriving from Singapore, where he attended the 32nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Leaders’ Summit.

He said his professor in geopolitics was Rosalinda Tirona, who is now “working in … at the Department of Foreign Affairs.”

Under Sison

“I took that and then under (Jose Maria) Sison. This Sison won’t follow his student. That’s difficult. The Filipino people think I [have no background in diplomacy] because I am just from the province,” he said.

But he said he was a “bright” student.

Disliking economics

“I took up diplomatic practice and procedure, geopolitics, international law. And I am [intelligent] because I like these subjects,” he said.

The President said, however, that he disliked economics.

“I get dizzy with your subject,” he said, recounting a conversation with his economics professor.