Duterte gives military say on arms issue
SUAL, PANGASINAN—In an apparent about-face, President Duterte on Wednesday said he would consider continuing to acquire weapons and defense equipment from treaty ally the United States if the military would recommend it, despite offers from China and Russia.
Mr. Duterte made the remark in a speech in which he again railed at the United States with expletives for criticizing his deadly crackdown on drugs, calling American officials “fools” and “monkeys” and breaking a promise that
he would no longer resort to trash talk.
Mr. Duterte said he had asked Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and military officials to travel to China and Russia to check what weapons and defense equipment the two countries had to offer, but added that the military’s recommendation would be crucial.
Chinese arms
“China is open. Anything you want. They even sent me a brochure, telling me to choose and they will provide,” Mr. Duterte said.
“I’m just holding off because I’m looking at the military,” he said. “If you want to stick with America, fine, but assess it well and find a balance because we are being ridiculed.”
He did not describe the contents of the Chinese brochure, but the Philippine National Police, which needs a versatile assault rifle, would be dismayed if it saw what’s in there.
Chinese police, unarmed until a terrorist attack at a train station in Kunming, Yunnan province, in 2014, carry an unusual six-shot revolver that fires a 9-millimeter bullet apparently based on the old caliber .38 S&W round.
Fighting well-armed criminals, the PNP uses the 9mm Glock 17 and the 9mm Beretta 92 or its Brazilian variant, the Taurus PT100.
Shifting to the so-called Chinese police revolver, which needs to be reloaded manually, from self-loading German and Italian pistols would not be a move forward for the PNP.
Complete surprise
China has light arms for civilian security and military use, including the QSZ pistol, which has two chamberings—
for the 9mm and the 5.8mm cartridges—and the Type 84 pistol that fires the 7.62mm round.
A pistol of the same caliber as the Russian AK-47 would be a complete surprise for the PNP.
For assault rifles, China has the 5.8mm QBZ Bullpup and the 5.56mm Norinco CQ, an unlicensed derivative of the Colt M16.
The PNP had ordered 27,304 US-made SIG Sauer M4 assault rifles, but the US state department halted the deal on Monday after Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, expressing concern about human rights violations in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs, said he would oppose the sale.
PNP Director General Ronald de la Rosa said on Wednesday, however, that SIG Sauer had advised the PNP that the license for the weapons sale to the Philippines was still “undergoing the normal process” at the US state department as of Nov. 1.
“We will continue to monitor the status of this license and advise of any meaningful changes,” De la Rosa said, expressing hope that the P1.7-billion deal would proceed.
‘Fools’ and ‘monkeys’
Mr. Duterte chided the United States on Wednesday for halting the weapons deal, calling those behind the decision “fools” and “monkeys.”
In Davao City on Tuesday night, he indicated he might turn to Russia for defense equipment.
Mr. Duterte said he met with Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev before the elections in May and quoted the diplomat as telling him about weapons procurement: “Come to Russia. We have everything you need.”
The Russians, however, have nothing like the short and light M4 that fires the 5.56mm round familiar to Philippine policemen.
Mr. Duterte, who took office in June, has been antagonistic to US, EU and UN officials who have raised concerns about extrajudicial killings in his brutal war on drugs.
More than 3,700 people, mostly small-time users and pushers, have been killed by police and suspected vigilantes since Mr. Duterte launched the crackdown on drugs on June 30.
De la Rosa said the M4s that the PNP wanted would not be used in the war on drugs, but in a campaign against so-called private armies. —REPORTS FROM AP AND INQUIRER STAFF
