President Duterte has claimed to hold no ill will toward the United States of America (USA), which has become one of the biggest donors of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines to the country in the past few months.
In his pre-recorded "Talk to the People" public address late Thursday night, Aug. 26, Duterte noted how the US has shown the Philippines "good will" by donating the life-saving jabs.
"Wala tayong sariling factory para sa bakuna kaya tayo ay bumibili at umaasa pa. Umaasa pa rin tayo na may magbigay pa ng tulong gaya ng China...Amerika (We don't have our own factory for vaccines that's why we purchase them and we hold out hope. We hope that we could still get assistance from countries like China...America)," he said.
"Sabi nila galit ako sa Amerika. Hindi ako galit sa Amerika lalo na kung magbigay sila ng bakuna (They say I'm angry at America. I'm not angry at America especially if they give us vaccines)," Duterte said.
"Lalo akong maging...nagmamagandang-loob na rin yung tao eh, bakit mo pa (I'll be more...they've been showing goodwill, so why would you)...in some matters of government policies, 'yun lang naman (that is all). Pero (But) I do not have anything against America," the Chief Executive said.
Duterte has badmouthed the US government in the past, most notably on perceived historical injustices suffered by Filipinos during the American occupation of the country in the late 19th century.
The Duterte administration's closeness to US rival China has also arguably changed the Philippines' dynamics with its longtime Mutual Defense Treaty ally.
Duterte had also threatened to cancel the Philippines' Visiting Force Agreement (VFA) with the US, only to nix the abrogation process last July.
Since June, the US has donated to the Philippines over eight million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. These include doses of Pfizer, Moderna, and the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
"Lahat ito (All of this), pooled together, this will, I hope bring out the country out of the morass of the pandemic," Duterte said of the jabs.