Last May, President Duterte made an official four-day visit
in Russia, though he had to cut his visit short because of what is happening in
Marawi, he still had a last minute meeting with Russian President Vladimir
Putin in Moscow’s Kremlin, just hours before his emergency flight back to the
country.
"I'm sad, but what makes me happy that I was able to
have a...last-minute meeting with President Putin and I was able to communicate
all the things that I wanted to tell him," the President said after the
hour long meeting with Putin. *
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| President Duterte and Russia's Putin meet during the former official visit in Moscow last May( photo credit to owner) |
Five months after that meeting, the Russian has expressed
and is physically helping the Philippines in its fight against terrorism.
Department of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana last week
said 5,000 Kalasnikov rifles with 1 million rounds of ammunition will arrive in
the country next week October 22, along with 20 military trucks.
All of these will be formally turned over to the Philippine
government on October 25, and will be used for the government’s
counter-terrorism campaigns, said Lorenzana.
"Gusto nilang tumulong sa atin to fight terrorism
dahil sila rin kasi also fighting terrorism sa kanilang bansa and they want
to help the fight against global terrorism," he said.
The Defense
Secretary stressed the weapons will come as a donation and there will be no financial
constraint against the Philippines.
President
Rodrigo Duterte also mentioned Russia's donation in a speech Wednesday at the
groundbreaking ceremony of a housing project called Scout Ranger Ville in
Barangays Calumpang and Tartaro in San Miguel, Bulacan.
"We
will have the Kalashnikov," Duterte said. The Kalashnikov is a renowned
brand of Russian weapons named after Mikhail Kalashnikov, who invented the
original Kalashnikov or AK-47 in 1947. It was considered the most popular
assault rifle in the world.
In November
2016, Duterte floated Russia as a possible arms supplier for the Philippine
National Police after he cancelled an order for 26,000 assault rifles from the
United States. *
Sec.
Lorenzana also said that the President is open to the idea of the Philippines
having a joint military exercises with Russia.
"Ang
sabi nila kung wala pang agreement na hindi pa sila makapunta dito, pwede na
tayo magpadala sa kanila (They said of there is no agreement yet for them to
come here, we can send people there)… First to observe exercises and then later
to participate, Lorenzana said.
Report from
cnnphilippines.
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