HEADLINE
Philippine
President
Rodrigo Duterte has allayed
fears he would become a
dictator.
Duterte assured that he
was just after a new Consti-
tution that would address
corruption in the country.
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY November 16 - 30, 2017
Duterte: I’m no dictator
ridden country and I would
be willing to just step out
so you won’t be afraid that I
am just after being a dicta-
tor,” Duterte said.
In a separate mes-
sage on the November 30
national holiday honour-
ing Filipino revolutionary
“Do not be afraid of Andres Bonifacio, Duterte
dictatorship. I am not aim- called on Filipinos to unite
ing for it. I do not ask [for] it against corruption, crimi-
and I do not like it,” Duterte nality, illegal drugs and ter-
said in a speech.
rorism.
“In the event that Con-
In his message mark-
gress comes up with an ing the 154th birth anniver-
anti-corruption Constitu- sary of Bonifacio, Duterte
tion, I will step down at the paid tribute to the “Father
end of the year. That is a of the Philippine Revolu-
commitment, a guarantee. tion” as he sought the ac-
Make me a Constitution tive involvement of all to
that would do away with a help bring about “real and
long suffering corruption- meaningful” change in so-
ciety.
“On this day, we pay
tribute to Andres Bonifa-
cio, the ‘Father of the Phil-
ippine Revolution.’ It was
Andres Bonifacio who ig-
nited the fires of revolt that
led to the foundation of our
nation and brought free-
dom to our people. As the
heirs of his revolution, it is
our solemn obligation to
bring life to his aspirations
and usher in an era of civic
consciousness and nation-
alism,” Duterte said.
“At a time when the
future of our country is at
stake, all of us are called to
become actively involved in
nation-building. Let us fight
to free ourselves from the
grasp of corruption, crimi-
OP- ED
By B.C. Premier John Horgan
VICTORIA. The soft-
wood lumber dispute af-
fects tens of thousands
of B.C. jobs, and forest-
dependent communities
across B.C. Earlier this
month, the U.S. De-
partment of Commerce
chose to drag out this
dispute by signaling their
intention to impose unfair
and unfounded duties on
Canadian softwood ex-
ports.
Our government has
responded. We’re fighting
for a fair deal that’s good
for B.C. workers, for the
industry, and people in
our communities. And
we won’t back down.
In my first week as
Premier, I travelled to
Ottawa and Washington
D.C. to deliver a mes-
sage to the Prime Min-
ister, and to U.S. Trade
Representatives. I made
it very clear that B.C. was
interested in a fair, long-
term deal to avoid time
and money wasted in du-
ties and litigation.
The reality is the
U.S. lumber industry
cannot produce enough
lumber to meet U.S. de-
mand. A