The
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) – President Rodrigo
Roa Duterte made his marching orders crystal clear.
And
that is for the AFP to purchase military equipment only from Israel.
"My orders
to my military (is) that in terms of military equipment particularly
intelligence gathering, we only have one country to buy from... that is my
order, specifically, Israel," the President said during his bilateral
meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem.
 |
| President Duterte walks along with his Israeli counterpart President Reuven Rivlin as they meet in Jerusalem, Israel. (photo credit to VOA) |
The President
explains that he prefers to buy equipment from Israel because it does not spy
on the countries to whom it sells equipment.
“America is a
good friend but you know, if he would sell you something, he would also be
listening,” he said.
Duterte also took
the opportunity to thanks President Rivlin for the much needed help extended by
his government during the Marawi seige last year.
“You
have extended us critical assistance during the Marawi siege against the
extremists. And the equipment that you lent us helped us a lot to win the war
and shortened the period of fighting,” Duterte said.
“We have in many
times been recipient of your assistance. Most of these were the intelligence
gadgets that used to defeat [the terrorists],” he added.
“It behooves
Israel and the Philippines to cooperate more than ever to defeat one enemy
which I think could never disappear within the next ten years,” he added.
President Duterte
also expressed confidence that the Philippines and Israel would not have any
problems since the two countries shared common ideologies including love for
peace.
“I do not see any
reason that there would be a problem in our relationship. We side on what is
morally right. And you can be sure that the Philippines will remain loyal to
the tenets of democracy and the right of a nation to exist peacefully,” Pres. Duterte
said.
President Rivlin,
for his part, vowed to further strengthen the long-standing diplomatic ties
between Israel and the Philippines.
“We know that we
have a very, very strong relationship now with you and your people. We [are]
both trying to protect and to defend our people against fundamentalism, against
terrorism,” Rivlin said.
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Report from PNA
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