President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (File photo) MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte will renew his appeal for "peaceful" conduct of the Philippines' 2022 national and local elections in the upcoming Summit for Democracy, a Palace official said on Thursday. Undersecretary Robert Borje, Chief of Presidential Protocol and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs, said Duterte's intervention in the US-organized summit will tackle not just what has been done insofar as democracy is concerned, but also ongoing efforts to guarantee its continuation. "Ang isa pang importanteng component dito ay alam natin na si Presidente ay patapos na ang termino. (Another important component here is we know the President's term is ending). And in the context of democracy, a democracy cannot be strong if there's no peaceful and regular transfer of power. And I think this will figure very strongly and very prominently in the speech of the President," Borje said in an interview ov
MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to accept the invitation of United States (US) President Joseph "Joe" Biden Jr. to participate in the Summit for Democracy is "consistent" with his independent foreign policy, Malacanang said on Wednesday. Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made this remark after Duterte welcomed the opportunity to share the Philippine democratic experience and commitment to democratic values and nation-building at the Summit for Democracy. China, which was not invited, dismissed the US-organized summit, noting that there is no fixed model of democracy. Duterte is known for also being friends with regional power China. The Philippines is one of the US' oldest Asian partners and the US' oldest security ally in Southeast Asia. Nograles, however, emphasized that the Duterte administration has always been consistent in its pursuance of an independent foreign policy. "Si Pangulong (President