By Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema
MANILA, July 22 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte launched a spirited defence of his relationship with
China on Monday, insisting that his refusal to challenge its
maritime assertiveness was not capitulation, but an avoidance of
conflict.
Known for his stinging rebukes of Western powers, the
firebrand leader devoted part of his annual state of the nation
address to arguing that it was senseless to confront a country
with claims to the same waters, and a far superior military.
"I will send our marines to drive away the Chinese
fishermen, I guarantee you, not one of them will come home
alive," he said in a 1-1/2-hour speech to Congress that
frequently went off script.
"If I send my new frigate, they will be decimated because
there are already guided missiles on that island," he said,
referring to a reef that China has turned into a de facto
military installation.
"The fastest that they have installed can reach Manila in
seven minutes. You want war?"
Duterte has drawn heavy scrutiny for his warm ties to a
country deeply mistrusted by his U.S.-allied defence apparatus,
with critics accusing him of gambling with national sovereignty
in pursuit of massive investments that have not materialised.
An anti-China protest ran for several hours outside the
venue of Duterte's speech.
His opponents have pressured him to take a tougher line
after last month's sinking of a Philippine fishing boat by a
Chinese vessel, and point to Beijing's increased coast guard and
fishing militia in disputed water as a sign of insincerity.
China says it has the right to defend what it calls its
waters, despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling that
invalidated its claim to almost the entire South China Sea.
That case was lodged and won by the Philippines, an issue
Duterte said he would most probably raise with China in his
final year in office.
"Let me assure you, national honour and territorial
integrity are at the foremost of my mind," he added. "But we
have to temper it with the times and realities we face today."
WAR ON KARAOKE?
He said government graft was pervasive and promised a day of
reckoning for corrupt officials, ordering local governments to
enforce laws to protect the environment and threatening to shut
down polluters.
He demanded more efficient business processes and threatened
in jest to kill the heads of underperforming agencies, besides
floated the idea of closing bars nationwide at midnight, and
banning karaoke singing in public after 8 or 9 p.m.
Alcohol and tobacco "should be exterminated from the face of
the earth" as they had given him health problems, he added.
Duterte made few references to his signature war on drugs,
despite a July 11 decision by the U.N. Human Rights Council to
investigate the thousands of deaths and allegations of summary
killings by police. Critics say Duterte's frequent threats and talk of bloodshed
have emboldened police to kill drug users and peddlers with
impunity. Police say suspects were killed in self defence.
"I use similes, metaphor, hyperbole, every now and then to
stress a point," Duterte said, referring to his rhetoric. "I am
as human as anybody else."
He also joked about a preliminary examination of the drugs
crackdown by the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying he
might agree to go on trial with a few conditions. "'Duterte extrajudical killing - report to the ICC'," he
said.
"Okay - if you can provide me a good comfortable cell,
heated during winter time, and have air-conditioning during hot
weather, and unlimited conjugal visits."
(Writing and additional reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez)