Molly Koscina, press attaché of the US Embassy in the Philippines, said they have not been contacted yet by Philippine government authorities regarding the matter.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte that he hoped the two nations could bring bilateral ties back to a normal track.
On Tuesday, Duterte also said Filipino forces would not participate in future joint patrols with the U.S.in the South China Sea, where Manila claims waters that China insists are part of its territory, despite an agreement struck by his predecessor just months ago.
Hachigian noted that it was “in the great interest” of both countries to maintain the alliance, and added that US officials had begun holding meetings with their counterparts in the new administration to discuss their shared priorities and programs.
Americans – including, and maybe especially, Black Americans – were upset that Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte called President Obama a “son of a whore” at a summit meeting, last week. They have to go in Mindanao.
Bloomberg notes that the likely buyers are China and Russian Federation, the nations the Philippines would need to use the weapons against if tension escalated in the South China Sea.
The Philippines has no defense treaty or agreements with China and Russian Federation.
The Philippine president hasn’t been shy about bashing his country’s ally; he referred to President Obama as a “son of a bitch” while warning him not to interfere with the country’s domestic policy.
On Monday, he ordered all US special forces now in the Philippines to leave, although the Americans later said they were not informed of this.
An arbitration court in The Hague invalidated China’s claims to the waterway in July in a case filed by the Philippines that defined territorial rights, a ruling which Beijing refuses to recognize.
Two countries, he said, have offered the Philippine government a soft loan for the purchase of military equipment.
Since taking office in June, Duterte has been openly critical of the USA, putting a strain to ties between the two military allies, at a time when tensions have heightened over China’s claim over most of the waters in the South China Sea.
“Those statements are not policies set in stone”, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella told the media. They are having trouble, they really want to recover but it is really hard.
“Also, compatibility problems hinder Chinese arms sale to the Philippines, as the latter is accustomed to US-style weaponry, which is totally different from Chinese designs and production”, Zhou said.
“The Philippines got little out of it, and it offended the Chinese, with whom they could have done more business with”, Shen said.
The sharp-tongued Duterte has said he does not “give a shit” about a wave of global criticism, including from the United Nations and US President Barack Obama.
Duterte’s spokesperson Ernesto Abella added that Duterte did not tolerate extrajudicial killings but that “human rights can not be used as an excuse to let the spread of drugs in the country run rampant”.
The U.S. troops were deployed in 2002 to provide combat and information sharing training and resources to Filipino troops to battle Abu Sayyaf insurgents in Mindanao who were in cahoots with al-Qaeda.
“We are not cutting our alliances – military (alliances) as well”.
The Philippines is one of a handful of Asia Pacific countries bound to the U.S. by a treaty relationship….which considers an attack on either country as an attack on the other. “The special forces, they have to go”.
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“I’d like just to give you one service command para sa lahat (for all)”.
