Goldberg happy to leave Philippines with integrity intact

MANILA, Philippines – Even without the Order of Sikatuna, America’s top diplomat in the country Philip Goldberg would be happy enough to leave the Philippines with his integrity intact.

“Everything I do here is for my country and for our relationship. And so I would rather leave with my integrity,” Goldberg said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.

Outgoing ambassadors traditionally receive the Order of Sikatuna award from the President.

However, President Duterte has on numerous occasions expressed his dislike for and badmouthed Goldberg after the top US diplomat criticized the conduct of his war on drugs.

Duterte’s dislike for Goldberg dates back to the campaign when the diplomat called him out for making a joke about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary during a 1989 Davao City prison riot.

“I would rather leave with the friendship of so many Filipinos and with all of the legacy that we have created, all of the good things that we have done together than have a piece of paper,” he said.

“We’ve gotten a lot done,” he added.

Goldberg arrived in the country right after the devastation of Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 and was active in relief efforts launched by the international community.

During his term, the Philippines and the US signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

“A lot of what has been going on over the last three months has been somewhat at odds, inconsistent with all of the great things that we have done and the partnership we have together,” Goldberg said. “I hope that our legacy and partnership will remain, and the friendship.”

Goldberg also said he does not regret speaking out against Duterte’s making a joke about the prison riot. “I’m a representative of my country,” he said.

“I said I’m not going to discuss your candidates or your campaign but anytime, anywhere something like that is said we don’t condone it. It was a very mild statement. It was said also in support of my Australian colleague,” he said, referring to Australian ambassador Amanda Gorely who also criticized the joke.

“I’m here representing the values of the United States which is part of our foreign policy. So when I said that it was not in any way intended… I never mentioned anyone’s name,” Goldberg said.

“It was clear who had said something and that is now part of the record but that’s my responsibility and I don’t regret having carried out my responsibility. I’m sorry that it needed to be carried out,” he stressed.

China trip

In the same ANC interview, Goldberg also revealed Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade made an “unpublicized” trip to China last June to start a “process” that led to the billion dollars worth of investment and financing agreements for the Philippines.

Goldberg said he was not surprised the trip resulted in investment and financing agreements that amounted to up to $24 billion.

He said Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua and others in the Chinese business community were visiting then president-elect Rodrigo Duterte very often in June.

“I also know and I don’t think this has been revealed publicly, but I know that Sen. Cayetano, President Duterte’s runningmate, made an unpublicized trip to China in June along with Secretary Tugade and so all of these was actually in train I think,” Goldberg said.

“There were already discussions going on so it predates a lot of the sort of discussion about us and our involvement and where we stood in all of this,” he said.

Cayetano and Tugade were with Duterte in his state visit to China earlier this month.

“I don’t think Sen. Cayetano’s role was fully known publicly but he was actually starting this process way back in June,” Goldberg added.

When asked if was it fair to say that the government was pursuing backdoor negotiations, Goldberg said, “I guess that’s what you’d say.”

“I don’t really know because it was never explained publicly, but it’s something that now is well known if not having been made public,” he added. “But what I’m saying is that this was clearly in train before all of the recent statements and upset and all of that. So it wasn’t exactly for me surprising.”

Reaching out

The ambassador said he had tried to reach out to the President through Cabinet officials, to get the US message across that the Philippines and the US are friends and allies.

“But the members of the Cabinet, while they try to convey these messages and are still very much in dialogue with us, don’t seem to have a full grasp either of what’s happening,” he said.

The state of Philippine-US relations, he said, is uncertain because of the pronouncements and the statements from the President, he pointed out.

“We have an enormous stake in each other’s countries and our relationship, so I go with that knowledge and with the hope that we will be able to continue that relationship but very much aware of the uncertainty that has been created and the bad feeling in a way that has been created by some of the statements,” Goldberg said.