MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte praised Filipinos for being “law-abiding” as he made reference to the ongoing massive protests in the United States.
In a taped speech aired Friday morning, Duterte said the Philippine government is lucky that Filipinos, in general, follow the law, adding that there seems to be “no end in sight” to the unrest in the U.S. sparked by police brutality and alleged racism.
“There’s a riot going on all over and seems to be there’s no end in sight. Mabuti na lang hindi tayo ganun at na-timing na ang Filipinos are law-abiding,” Duterte said.
“Imagine kung America ‘to, how can you enforce the lockdown and itong quarantine? Buti nalang ganun,” he added.
Massive demonstrations have been ongoing in the U.S. a week after the death in Minneapolis, Minnesota of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes as was handcuffed face down in the street.
Floyd’s agonizing death was caught on video by bystanders.
Although many of the demonstrations that followed the incident have been peaceful, others turned into rage-fueled clashes between protesters and the police. There were also incidents of looting of shops in several areas.