EXECUTIVE Secretary Salvador Medialdea summoned United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim last Thursday to Malacañang, where they discussed the latest US Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment report, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Medialdea discussed with the US envoy the global Corruption Perception Index 2017 report that called the Philippines, along with India and Maldives, as among “the worst regional offenders” in terms of threatening—or in some cases, murdering—journalists, activists, opposition leaders, and staff of law enforcement or watchdog agencies.
In a statement, Roque said Medialdea likewise instructed the Department of Foreign Affairs, through our Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, to coordinate and engage with the American agencies involved in the writing of the assessment.
The Executive Secretary has also instructed the Philippine Embassy in the US to provide the intelligence community accurate information on the realities happening on the ground in the Philippines, “including the actions taken by the President and his administration to promote socioeconomic development for the country and provide a safe and secure environment for all Filipinos, respecting at all times the rule of law,” Roque added.
Meanwhile, Kim explained that the nature of the report—an annual assessment on conditions in each of the world’s various regions—was based on widely available information.
“The discussion focused on the references to the Philippines in the report, including clarifying that the information about the Philippines had been previously reported by media sources,” the US Embassy said in a statement.
Medialdea and Kim also discussed shared interests and possibilities for expanding the country’s partnership with the US.
The US vowed to continue to collaborate with the government of the Philippines and reaffirmed to strengthen their bilateral relationship.