President Rodrigo Duterte once again claimed that the US Central Intelligence Agency plans to assassinate him and said he believed the security agency could be listening to his phone conversations.
“I know the US is listening. I’m sure it’s the CIA. That [agency] will kill me,” said Duterte in his speech Tuesday evening, adding that the CIA also eavesdrops on the leaders of countries such as Russia, China, Israel, Indonesia, and even America.
Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde, however, said there is no information among the countries’ security officials about the alleged assassination plot against Duterte.
“With regards to the CIA, we do not have information as far as the Philippine National Police is concerned,” Albayalde said Wednesday during CNN Philippines’ The Source.
“Although, if you’re a president, there’s always a threat on your life. There’s always that assumption that there’s a death threat to your life,” he added.
Duterte, who called the federal security agency “crazy,” made the remark when he talked about the advancement of technology in cellular phones.
The President said his security personnel cautioned him not to use a smartphone as its latest software could be easily hacked and intercepted, urging him to use outdated mobile phones instead.
His two-hour speech then slipped into anger at being unable to buy submarines and criticism of former US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“In America, we hoped we could buy a submarine. I want two submarines just to lift the spirit [and] the soul of the Filipino soldiers because we don’t have one,” said Duterte, noting that Thailand has six or eight submarines, Indonesia has over 10 underwater ships, and Malaysia recently acquired six submarines.
“Now, I want to buy in Russia. Here comes a statement from America telling me not to buy,” he said.
He also said that three of six refurbished helicopters sold by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to the Philippines had already crashed.
“I want them to explain to us why we lost the best of our pilots in three crashes. Then here comes a guy saying, ‘No, no. It’s very dangerous for you to acquire submarines from Russia.’ When was it really a relation of mutuality and respect? They never gave it to us,” Duterte said of the Americans.
He also hit Trudeau for not understanding the situation in the Philippines.
Duterte expressed exasperation over the scuttled deal to buy choppers from Canada because Trudeau feared Duterte would only use them against his own citizens.
“For God’s sake Mr. Trudeau, my own citizens are rebelling against us, killing my soldiers and policemen and civilians. And I cannot use the helicopter because they are citizens, but they are out to overthrow my government?” Duterte said.
“If you cannot understand, you should not be there in that mighty post of yours because you do not know the history of the world and geopolitics,” he added.
