Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte urges concerned foreign businesses to ‘pack up and leave’
Tokyo — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday urged foreign businesses in the Philippines worried about his deadly drug war to "pack up and leave", as he launched another anti-American tirade before flying to Japan to attract investments. Duterte voiced outrage at comments made the previous day by the top US envoy to Asia that his fiery rhetoric and crime war, which has claimed about 3,700 lives in four months, were bad for business. "These Americans are really crazy," Duterte said, as he held up a newspaper with headlines reporting criticism from US assistant secretary of state Daniel Russel. "Russel says ‘Duterte comments causing worries in business communities’. Then you pack up and leave. We will recover, I assure you." Duterte then flew to Japan, one of the top US allies in Asia, for a three-day visit that is partly aimed at building on two-way trade of more than $18bn in 2016. "With Japan as the Philippines’ top trading partner, I shall seek the sustainment and further enhancem...
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