President Duterte’s foreign policy in his first 100 days in office could generally be characterized as being, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us,” at least in his war against illegal drugs. The seating arrangement allowed him to speak with the Indonesian President on the plight of convicted drug mule Mary Jane Veloso. But then again, Mr. Duterte drew strong criticisms from the Filipino community for his conversation with Widodo where he was said to have given the “go-ahead” to Veloso’s execution. On Oct. 4, Tuesday, Lagman declined to give an assessment of President Duterte’s first 100 days in office. On Thursday, he called international foreign aids as “crumbs from other nations’ favors” in a speech in Butuan City.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 07, 2016 17:10 UTC