The United States continue to focus on its broad relationship with the Philippines despite a statement made by President Rodrigo R. Duterte that he wanted American forces out of Mindanao.
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“If you went inside the upper portion, we were already in ambush position”, Matobato told de Lima.
Duterte spokesman Ernesto Abella has stated the Philippine president’s recent actions reflect the government’s “new direction toward coursing an independent foreign policy” in years to come, according to USA Today.
“Wala pa naman instructions sa DFA but I think we have to discuss this together with our defense agencies [There’s no instruction to the DFA yet but I think we have to discuss this together with our defense agencies]”, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose said.
That tension, following US concern about a bloody Philippine campaign against drugs, has created some speculation that Duterte’s resentment about what he sees as colonial-era American interference, plus the prospect of luring big-ticket Chinese investment, could nudge Manila closer to Beijing. American officials are “hypocrites” for funding anti-drug efforts while calling him out for supposed human-right violations, he said in the same speech.
“There is no shift in so far as our policy is concerned with respect to our close friendship with the Americans”, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Tuesday. The Philippines has traditionally leaned on the USA, its longtime treaty ally, and other Western allies for its security needs.
The President explained that during the ASEAN Summit, he authorized the release of photographs depicting the horror that the Philippines suffered under the Spaniards and the Americans to show what true human rights violation looks like, and how these atrocities were committed against the Filipinos.
The ties with Philippines are at a turning point, China said, adding that it expects Manila to handle the conflicts appropriately. He said Monday he wanted the USA military to leave Mindanao, the site of a strategic base set to host American forces.
“To do so, he must end all agreements which bind the Philippines to the US and make the country a vassal of the USA military”.
The arms deal would be a direct hit to the US arms industry, which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says has provided 75 percent of the Philippine’s arms imports since 1950.
With the United States two months away from a presidential election that will pit President Barack Obama’s fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton against Trump, Earnest drew a comparison with the Philippines. “It would threaten the whole position in the Philippines”, Thayer said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte wears a pilot’s jacket which was presented to him during his “Talk with the Airmen” on the anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016 at the Philippine Air Force headquarters in suburban Pasay city, southeast of Manila, Philippines.
Duterte’s recent demand to remove US military personnel from Philippines’ territory got an official answer of Washington, which said it had not received a formal request to remove its troops.
The spokesman said that the Philippines would continue to honor agreements with the U.S. such as the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). And, that’s quite understandable, because the United States killed as many as one million Filipinos when it colonized the country back in 1898, and still treats the island nation of about 100 million people like a colony.
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Speaking in Laos, White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes suggested Philippine engagement with China suited the United States and would be seen as “a constructive development” if it resulted in peaceful problem-solving and followed worldwide law.
