By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines

The Philippines’ police chief said Monday that President Rodrigo Duterte has changed his mind about calling off the purchase of 26,000 assault rifles from a United States gun-maker.

Earlier this month, Duterte belittled an apparent move by the U.S. to halt the sale, saying he could just turn to Russia or China instead.

Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa told reporters Monday that he had briefed Duterte about the matter during their visit to Malaysia last week and received his approval to push through with the procurement of rifles from Sig Sauer.

“Actually I talked to him personally… We reported to him that the processing of documents is going on smoothly according to Sig Sauer, they have seen no attempt to block the sale,” he was quoted as saying by the Interaksyon news website.

“When I explained that to him [Duterte], he said, ‘OK, you continue because there is no obstacle’,” Dela Rosa added.

Duterte’s comments against the sale, in which he described Americans as “crazies” and “monkeys”, were among the latest in a succession of outbursts the Philippines' leader has made against America -- the Philippines’ long-time ally -- since taking office in June.

They came after U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, a top Democrat in the Senate’s foreign relations committee, said he would block the transaction in the wake of alleged human rights abuses during Duterte's administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Human Rights Watch have claimed that the Philippines' police force is deeply implicated in Duterte’s "abusive" war, which it claims has resulted in the deaths of around 5,000 Filipinos since he took office.

Dela Rosa, however, also said Monday that if the U.S. State Department were to block the sale, “I’m sure the President will again tell me to stop it.”

He called for “fair and equal treatment” in terms of the deal.

“We are paying for this, we did not ask for this… so we should get fair and equal treatment because this is business,” Dela Rosa stressed. “This is not a grant, this is not aid that we have to ask for.”