Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday alleged that most US ambassadors are "spies," and some of the envoys are deployed to undermine governments.
Duterte cited former US ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg as an example of US envoys who are actually connected with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
"Most of the ambassadors of the United States, but not all, are not really professional ambassadors," he said in a televised interview. "They do spying. They are really connected with the CIA."
"The ambassador of a country is the number one spy, but there are ambassadors of the United States whose forte is really to undermine the government," he added.
Duterte has in the past expressed dislike for Goldberg after the US diplomat spoke out against a rape joke he made during a campaign rally before he was elected president.
Earlier in the week, a local newspaper reported that Goldberg had prepared a "blueprint" of various strategies to undermine Duterte over an 18-month period, citing a document from an unnamed source.
The US State Department has denied the allegations as false.
Duterte said he believed the former envoy could be involved in such a plot to oust him, noting that he had a track record of undermining governments.
"That's what happened with Bolivia. He was expelled because he was undermining the native president there," he said.
"Goldberg started to dig under, to erode the foundation of the presidency and he was expelled persona non grata."
Rodrigo Duterte says some ambassadors are connected with the CIA.
