President Rodrigo Duterte ordered
the cancellation on Monday of Philippine's purchase of police
rifles from the United States, after US senatorial aides said
last month that Washington was halting the sale due to concerns
about human rights violations.
"We will not insist on buying expensive arms from the United
States. We can always get them somewhere else. I am ordering the
police to cancel it. We don't need them," Duterte said in a
televised speech at a event attended by Muslim rebel leaders.
"We will just have to look for another source that is
cheaper and maybe as durable and as good as those made in the
place we are ordering them," Duterte said.
The relationship between the United States and the
Philippines, a long-time ally, has been complicated lately by
Duterte's angry reaction to criticism from Washington of his
violent battle to rid the country of illegal drugs.
More than 2,300 people have been killed in police operations
or by suspected vigilantes as part of government's
anti-narcotics efforts, which was the linchpin of his election
campaign.
Last month, Senate aides told Reuters that the US State
Department halted the planned sale of some 26,000 assault rifles
to the Philippines' national police after Senator Ben Cardin
said he would oppose it because of concerns about human rights
violations.
Duterte has said in the past that Russia and China had shown
willingness to sell arms to the Philippines.
