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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PH confident Capitol riot won't disrupt US democracy

PH confident Capitol riot won't disrupt US democracy

Published Jan 7, 2021 02:41 pm

The Philippine government is confident that the recent chaos that engulfed the United States Congress on Thursday after supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump entered its building will not affect its democratic processes.

Members of the National Guard and the Washington D.C. police stand guard to keep demonstrators away from the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC.
(Samuel Corum/Getty Images/AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill in Washington DC on Thursday to stop Congress from certifying President-Elect Joseph Biden's victory in the November 2020 polls.

Citing Foreign Affairs Secretary (SFA) Teodoro Locsin, Jr. in his Thursday briefing, Roque, said that this disruption will not affect US democracy.

"Kampante naman po ang ating Secretary of Foreign Affairs na hindi naman po matitinag ang demokrasya diyan sa America sa panandaliang pagkakagulong nakita natin (Our SFA is confident that the short-lived chaos that we saw will not disrupt the democracy in the USA)," he said.

Roque said the important thing was to make sure that no Filipino was involved in the chaos that led to the death of four people and the arrest of 52 others.

"Ang importante lang ngayon ay masiguro na walang Pilipino po na mapapasama diyan sa gulo na 'yan (What's important now is to make sure that no Filipinos will be involved in what happened)," he said.

"Inatasan naman po talaga ang ating mga embahada at ating consular office sa Washington DC na magmonitor at ibalita kaagad kung merong nasaktan o nadawit na Filipino diyan (Our embassy and consular office in Washington DC were tasked to monitor and to report immediately if any Filipino got hurt or involved there)," he added.

In an interview with GMA News, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said some Filipinos joined Trump supporters in storming Capitol Hill.

"Ang balita namin merong mga iba na Trump supporters and nakita namin galing din sa ibang states dito sa Amerika pero hindi namin sigurado kung ilan sila (We've received reports that there were some Trump supporters who came from different states in America but we are not yet sure how many there were)," he said.

Biden won over Trump in the electoral college and popular vote

in November last year. However, the former reality TV actor-turned-President refused to accept defeat while insisting that he was cheated.

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