The outspoken president of the Philippines, who made headlines after calling President Obama a “son of a bitch”, said Monday that he wants the us military to leave a southern island beset by terrorism and insurgency.
Advertisement
Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla insisted Duterte’s demands that the USA withdraw from the southern Philippines were an expression of “concern to the United States servicemen in Mindanao”. He also accused the US of “exporting terrorism” in the Middle East, especially Iraq and Libya.
PHILIPPINES is expecting a boost to its military arsenal thanks to China and Russian Federation, according to President Rodrigo Duterte, in yet another sign the Southeast Asian nation may be charting a course away from the United States.
The Philippines has moved to shore up relations with the U.S. with guarantees that a treaty between them will be honoured and security ties are “rock solid”, despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s railings against Washington.
Members of the minority bloc, including a former military officer, warned of the possible impact of President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for American troops to leave Mindanao on the country’s security.
According to White House spokesman Josh Earnest, Washington has not yet received a formal request to remove USA military personnel from the country’s southern region.
The U.S. program was discontinued in the Philippines in 2015, but a small troop presence has remained for logistics and technical support.
But the president later clarified that the Philippines was not cutting military ties with the USA, with which it has shared a defence treaty since 1951.
Duterte did not mention any deadline or say how he intends to pursue his wishes.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters later Monday that Washington had not yet received any official request from Manilla about withdrawing U.S. special operations forces.
He added that Washington remains committed to its alliance with Manila.
The U.S. holds great influence with the Filipino military, which operates in close collaboration with U.S. Special Forces troops stationed in the country.
Duterte’s recent demand to remove USA military personnel from Philippines’ territory got an official answer of Washington, which said it had not received a formal request to remove its troops.
An emotional Philippines leader blamed America for inflaming Muslim insurgencies in the region as well.
“And while it is true that the Americans have profited a lot from us, let us not deny the fact that we have also profited from them”.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella reportedly said that the US presence is the “real reason for the “Islamic” threat in Mindanao”.
Mr Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella said that “the statement reflects [Mr Duterte’s] new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy”.
The program was discontinued in 2015, but a number of USA soldiers remain there. “They have to go in Mindanao, there are many whites there, they have to go”.
The bloody crime war that has claimed almost 3,000 lives in the Philippines in just two months was dubbed a “success” on Sunday by a spokesman for controversial President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Elections do say a lot about what kind of person is going to represent your country on the worldwide stage…” he told reporters. The point is, I do not want to ride gung-ho style there with China or with America.
The order comes a week after he called Barack Obama “a son of a whore”, causing the U.S. president to cancel their scheduled meeting at the South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Laos.
Despite the remark, the two leaders later shook hands and had a brief chat in a holding room where Duterte reportedly said his words were not directed at Obama.
Advertisement
On Sept. 3, Duterte issued a warning before the summit began in Laos that Obama better not condemn his law-and-order policies, or “son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum”.
