President Rodrigo Duterte’s Statement on Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay
Malacañan Palace
July 19, 2016

President Duterte: Good afternoon.

I would like to arrest if you…You know what is going around that Secretary Yasay of the Department of Foreign Affairs is on his way out. I would to assure the Secretary that he is in good company and there is no truth to the rumor that there is a plan for his ouster, far from it actually.

I would like the Philippines to know that I personally pleaded with Secretary Yasay to join my government because he is competent and honest and he knows his business. He has a professor — professorial job on the Western side of the United States and he knows from whereof he speaks.

So, hindi totoo iyan and although there is this caveat. Actually, Secretary Yasay accepted the position on the condition that he will only serve for a few months not even a year because he has his contractual obligations to teach, professorial chair in the most — well, most of the universities in the Western side, maybe California, Hawaii and somewhere else.

So let me just douse cold water on the rumor and arrest the circulating — it’s not good. Yasay speaks for me. Everything that he says in public both national and international comes from my guidance; and he has my backing and full support.

And I have — I said placed my entire trust in him to take care as being the spokesman for foreign affairs and that’s why he is there. At sana po matapos na ‘yang haka-haka. Maraming salamat po.