13 October 2017•Update: 14 October 2017
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States should be blamed if he faces an untimely death.
"As for me, I'll be telling Filipinos: if I die, it's America (that's behind it). It's the CIA," Duterte told reporters at the relaunch of Malacañang news briefing.
He particularly blamed the Virginia-based intelligence service for the barrage of criticism surrounding his presidency, brought about by the bloody war on illegal drugs.
"CIA, stop f**ing. One day, I will just drive you away. It's either your cahoots here will have to kill me or you have to get out of my country. Choose," the President said.
This is not the first time Mr. Duterte has blamed the In September last year, he said he received reports that the CIA wanted him dead and that most U.S. ambassadors were involved with the group.
Quoted by newsmen in Manila, the President claimed that the U.S. disliked him, the same way it disliked Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
The CIA has been accused of meddling in the affairs of the Philippines since its founding in the early 1960s.
The visual aspects of having U.S. military bases imposed on the Philippines gave the CIA a greater presence where it ran many covert operations in the Philippines during that time.
On a related topic, the President said those who aim to topple his administration—referring mostly to his political opponents—should join forces against him.
“I would be happy really if they would start to merge into one command. These communists and Liberal Party members. These others who want me out of should unite in one group ” Duterte said, responding to various criticisms concerning his and his family’s true state of wealth.
“I think you share the same ideological whatever so things won’t get scattered—we can focus on all of you,” the President said. “This is no threat. I said it is my mandated duty to keep this country safe and sound."
