When Duterte took over as president in June, he had grown critical of the U.S. security policy in the Philippines.
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But the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan welcomed Duterte’s position, calling it “consistent with his independent foreign policy, which stressed the need for the Philippines to chart its own course and uphold its national interest, free of any foreign dictates and intervention”.
In 2002 the US began a mission on the southern island of Mindanao to support Philippine forces fighting al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf.
“Philippine-U.S. defense relations remain rock solid”, said armed forces spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla. The U.S. Embassy did not immediately issue any reaction.
Mark Thompson, director of the Southeast Asia Research Center (SEARC) at City University of Hong Kong, says Duterte is pursuing a “nationalist narrative” not evident in recent Filipino administrations.
Koscina said they are aware reports from the press quoting Duterte, but stressed that there has been no official communication coming from the Philippine government on the matter. He said Washington remained committed to the alliance.
Duterte, who made worldwide headlines last week by crudely insulting President Obama, said white Westerners are an inviting target for kidnap-for-ransom groups such as the militant Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines.
State Department spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that the Department is not aware of “any official communication” from the Philippine government demanding USA forces’ removal.
The Filipino leader has been stepping up efforts to bring peace to the southern Philippines where decades-long insurgencies with Muslim and communist rebels have claimed more than 150,000 lives.
Duterte subsequently showed images of the Bud Dajo Massacre, wherein US soldiers killed around 1,000 Filipino Muslims during an early 20th century conflict, the Filipino-American War.
Duterte, 71, has said he is “not a fan” of the United States and on Monday explained his demand by showing pictures of USA troops killing Muslims as America took control of its new colony in the early 1900s. This time he reportedly veered off his prepared speech and took a dig at American soldiers, blaming them for killing his “ancestors”.
“The (Muslim) people will become more agitated”.
Since then, a small group of US troops have stayed behind to assist Philippine police and military units.
“Most of them have left”, Baja said. He said that elections say a lot about what kind of person is “going to represent your country on the worldwide stage”.
Duterte was scheduled to meet with President Obama last week, but Obama backed out after Duterte appeared to call him a “son of a bitch”.
Mr Duterte sparked a storm ahead of last week’s Asean summits in Vientiane by labelling Obama a “son of a bitch”, and prompting the United States leader to cancel planned talks between the two allies. What’s clear now it that the United States is not the only option for the Philippines.
The White House subsequently canceled the planned meeting in Laos.
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“I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go”, Duterte, who is from the Mindanao region, said during a speech in Manila.
