(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte will respect and will not comment on policies instituted by the new US President Donald Trump, including his controversial immigration and travel ban on seven Muslim countries, even as the Philippine leader announced that the Philippines would be open to accepting refugees with nowhere to go to.
The President cited what the Philippines did when it accepted Vietnamese refugees in the late 1970s until early 1990s.
The Philippines was then the poorest Asian country to have taken in Vietnamese boat people, and is said to be the only country to have allowed them to have permanent settlements.
-Respect for Trump’s policies-
But Duterte said that he would respect Trump’s policies, just as Trump had respected his decision to wage an illegal drugs war that had been widely criticized by his predecessor former US President Barack Obama.
“Kasi nu’ng sinabi rin niya ako, ‘We will not interfere in your drug war, you’re doing it right.’ So out of respect for that statement, I can only answer him in the manner that he has told me. Hindi ako makialam,” Duterte said.
He said this is what Trump believes is a way to protect his country, the United States.
Duterte on Tuesday said he congratulated Trump again, and he reiterated his respect for his policies.
In an earlier presscon late Sunday, Duterte said he would welcome refugees coming into the Philippines.
“Ako, in the name of humanity and God, we’ll have to make some adjustments,” the president said.
“If there is a compelling reason for us to offer sanctuary, I am one of those na, okay lang ako sa walang mapuntahan na. If they cannot go anywhere anymore except to face death by hunger.”
But President Duterte said this has to be with the concurrence of Congress.
“Like what we did with the Vietnamese. We provided sanctuary for them (Vietnamese refugees),” he said.
Duterte said that at the time, it was a matter of respect for the “human spirit.”
He said this was why he has no problems with accepting refugees in the Philippines.
-Duterte advises Filipinos in the US to be “on the right track”
But President Duterte advised Filipinos living in the United States to follow the “right track” under the new Trump administration, so they would not face difficulties, or worse, deported.
“Yung mga Pilipinong nandoon (in the US), you better stay on the right track. Because if you are caught and deported, I will not lift a finger,” Duterte said.