Coup

Goldberg : Don’t know where CIA talk coming from

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg has denied President Duterte’s claim the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was plotting to oust or assassinate him.

“No, those kinds of statements are not correct, not true,” Goldberg told Inquirer.net in an interview at the recent ARMM Health Forum in Pasay City.

“We’re friends of the Philippines. We’re allies of the Philippines. We respect democracy in the Philippines,” he said.

In his working visit to Vietnam last month, President Duterte said the CIA, a civilian foreign intelligence service of the United States federal government, was plotting to oust him.

“Sabi nila. Paplano-plano raw ang CIA na patayin ako. Susmaryosep, ginoo (They say there is a plan by the CIA to kill me. Good lord.),” Mr. Duterte told the Filipino community in Hanoi.