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Malacanang slammed on Wednesday the assessment of the US Intelligence Community against President Rodrigo Duterte for citing him as a threat to democracy and human rights.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the assessment against Duterte was "myopic and speculative at best."

He reiterated that Duterte adheres to the rule of law and remains loyal to the Constitution.

"For one, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is no autocrat or has autocratic tendencies...an autocracy is not prevalent, as they would like everyone to believe," he said.

The US Intelligence Community, in its Worldwide Threat Assessment recently published, cited Duterte as one of the Southeast Asian leaders who posed a threat to democracy and human rights.

The US group is composed of 17 government agencies that collaborate regularly to produce some key intelligence products that inform policy-makers and the US president, using both classified and open source information.

The report noted that Duterte would "continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption, and crime. Duterte has suggested he could suspend the Constitution, declare a ‘revolutionary government,’ and impose nationwide martial law."

It also cited a Freedom House report listing the Philippines as one of the governments using "propaganda and misinformation in social media to influence foreign and domestic audiences."

To prove Duterte was not a dictator, Roque said media in the Philippines are still able to broadcast and print what they want, including "fake news."

"Our judiciary and the courts are functioning as usual. Our legislature remains independent and basic services are still being delivered," he said.

Roque said there is no revolutionary government or nationwide martial law.

Duterte had earlier threatened to declare a revolutionary government or to impose martial law in the entire country if the communist New People's Army brings its armed struggle to the streets. The p;resident has declared the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA as terrorist organizations.

Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao in May last year following the attack of Islamic State-inspired terrorists in Marawi City. He asked Congress to extend the imposition of martial law in southern Philippines until the end of the year.

On the government's use of social media, Roque said it was not only the Duterte administration which has been using it, but those from the opposition as well.

"While it is true that the administration uses and maximizes social media to promote government messages and accomplishments, members of the political opposition and other cause-oriented groups use the same media platform to advance their agenda," he said.

"We have to understand the use of social media has become an important part of the daily lives of Filipinos. It is therefore foolhardy not to tap social media as a tool when the technology exists for free. I don't know of any government in the free world which does not use the internet and social media to promote its agenda. This is very true especially in the case of the US. This latest intelligence assessment is a classic case in point," he added. Celerina Monte/DMS