Duterte to discuss 'peaceful' transition in Biden's Democracy Summit

President Rodrigo Duterte presides over a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members before his talk to the people at the Arcadia Active Lifestyle Center in Matina, Davao City on December 6, 2021.

Presidential Photo / Toto Lozano

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to talk about efforts to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and to promote peace, development, and public health during the US-led Summit for Democracy to be held this weekend, a Palace official said yesterday.

Presidential adviser on foreign affairs and chief of presidential protocol Robert Borje noted that Duterte's term is about to end and that a democracy cannot be strong if there is no peaceful and regular transfer of power.

"I think this will figure very strongly and very prominently in the speech of the president. It's an admission on the part of the president, and maybe reaffirmation of his strong belief, that it is his responsibility first and foremost as the president to ensure that there is a peaceful transition, because without it, we cannot be called a democracy. That means, we are authoritarian," Borje told state-run People's Television.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/12/09/2146831/duterte-discuss-peaceful-transition-bidens-democracy-summit