President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he would never go to America during his term as President following a US lawmaker’s remarks that he should be barred from visiting the White House due to alleged human rights abuses under his administration.
“There will never be a time that I will go to America during my term or even thereafter,” Duterte said in an ambush interview in Davao City after attending an investment conference.
The President said those who have been saying he wanted to go to the US “must be dreaming.”
“Somebody asked me if I’m going to America. Right? What was my response? You guys must be dreaming,” he said.
In a congressional hearing on Thursday, Massachusetts Representatives Jim McGovern said he would protest against Duterte if he visits White House.
Duterte hit back at the US Congress, saying it should investigate America’s alleged human rights violations in the Philippines and in the Middle East.
“Otherwise, I will be forced to investigate you also. I will start with your past sins and I will produce the–from your archives–the photographs of the people you murdered here in the Philippines, the Moro people massacre, thousands of them,” he said.
“So I will start the investigation also. Why? Was there no human rights before?” he added.