Philippines

Philippines cannot be 'the little brown brothers of America', says minister

Foreign minister’s warning comes amid Washington’s unease at president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody ‘war on drugs’

US-Philippines relations have been soured by comments about Barack Obama by his opposite number Rodrigo Duterte.
US-Philippines relations have been soured by comments about Barack Obama by his opposite number Rodrigo Duterte. Photograph: Narendra Shrestha/Mast Irham/EPA

in Bangkok

The Philippines cannot “forever be the little brown brothers of America”, the country’s top diplomat has said, making it clear the country will not accept foreign criticism for a deadly crackdown on drugs.

Speaking in Washington, foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said that while his country still regards the US as a trusted ally, the Philippines wanted mutual respect.

Americans used the term ‘little brown brothers’ to refer to native Filipinos during the era of US colonial rule that ended in 1946.

The south-east Asian nation has for decades been seen by Washington as a dependable partner, especially against China’s expanding military reach in the region. American troops and ships are sent on regular rotations to the Philippines.

But the election of Rodrigo Duterte in May has soured the alliance, with the president’s first months in office dominated by a bloody crackdown on the drug trade that has left 3,526 drug dealers, and also addicts, dead since July 1.

Last week, Barack Obama cancelled a meeting with Duterte at a regional summit after the Filipino leader he was a “son of a whore”.

And on Thursday, a self-confessed former assassin testified that Duterte had personally ordered members of a death squad to kill criminals and opponents and even “finished off” a justice department employee with a submachine gun.

The government denied the allegations.

Yasay said on Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that his country would never condone unlawful killings.

“Extrajudicial killing has no place in our society,” he said. “We will always view the United States as an esteemed and trusted ally.”

Pinterest
Perfecto Yasay speaks in Washington on Thursday.

But he added: “You do not go to the Philippines and say, ‘I’m going to give you something, I’m going to help you develop and I’m going to help you grow but these are the checklists that you must comply with. We will lecture you on human rights’.”

New figures released by the Philippine national police this week showed that 1,491 people had been killed during police operations and 2,035 people were murdered by vigilante groups since 1 July.

Duterte, a former prosecutor, has repeatedly said he will not go after civilians who kill drug dealers.

In the same time period, more than 16,500 “drug personalities” had been arrested and 710,961 people surrendered to the police, the vast majority of them drug users but also some considered “pushers”, authorities say. Ten police personnel have been killed.

During his trip, Yasay sought in part to reassure Washington, pointing to a defence cooperation agreement which gives the US access to five military bases. But he added that the two countries would not undertake joint patrols in disputed waters near the South China Sea, a policy of the previous administration.