The United States ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim denied the allegations made by President Rodrigo Duterte that the Americans are establishing a permanent arms depot in the country.
Kim said that Duterte might have been fed the wrong information on the matter.
“I think some misinformation was given to the President and that’s why he gave that statement expressing concerns about a possible weapons depot,” Kim told reporters during a forum organized by Manila Broadcasting Co.
Duterte made the accusation last Sunday night claiming that the US military is sending weapons to a depot allegedly situated in Palawan, Cagayan de Oro, and Pampanga.
He then asked the US to stop the reported activity.
“I am serving notice to the United States Armed Forces. I will not allow it. It is not allowed,” Duterte said.
Duterte added that the alleged stockpiling of weapons in the country is prohibited under the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty.
“It is now allowed by the treaty,” he said, and warned the US that [if] “you do that and I will abrograte the treaty altogether.”
But Kim said that the US does not have any plan to build any type of weapons depot in the country.
“The fact is we are not building a weapons depot anywhere in the Philippines,” Kim said.
The envoy added that “nothing is being planned that even closely resembles the concerns about weapons depot,” and said that “upcoming projects” are mostly in the nature in disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.