Sunday, April 24, 2016
Duterte backpedals on comments against US, Australia
Presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte backpedalled on his furious comments against the ambassadors of Australia and the United States who criticized him for allegedly joking about the killing and rape of Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill in Davao City in 1989.
Duterte denied reports that he had dared Australia and the US to cut ties with the Philippines when he wins in the May 9 presidential polls, saying that he merely warned their respective envoys against dipping their hands into local politics.
“I didn’t say that,” Duterte said when asked by media if he really meant what he said about severing ties with the two close allies of the Philippines.
