Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said joint military exercises of Filipino and US troops next week will be the last such drills, although his foreign secretary quickly said the decision was not final.
Duterte made the comments while addressing Filipino community members in Hanoi late on Wednesday night, adding that the Philippines would maintain its military alliance with the US because they share a 65-year-old mutual defense treaty.
During a two-day visit to Vietnam, Duterte said he wanted to establish new trade and commercial alliances with China and Russia, and that Beijing does not want the war games.
Photo: Reuters
“I would serve notice to you now that this will be the last military exercise,” he said. “Jointly, Philippines-US, the last one.”
US Department of State spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday said Washington has not received any official communication from the Manila government on the matter.
About 1,400 US troops based in Okinawa, Japan, and 500 Filipino counterparts plan to participate in the Philippines Amphibious Landing Exercise from Tuesday next week to Oct. 12 in multiple locations, including Palawan, the westernmost province nearest to disputed islands in the South China Sea, officials said.
The two militaries have routinely held bilateral exercises aimed at improving cooperation between the forces.
However, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Perfecto Yasay Jr contradicted Duterte, saying joint military drills approved by the previous administration would continue until 2018, when they can evaluate whether there is a need for them to go on.
“He was just simply saying for now, taking into account the political reality, he does not want the joint military exercises to continue,” Yasay said.
Duterte has had an uneasy relationship with the US, since he won the presidential election in May.
More than 3,000 suspected drug pushers and users have been killed since July 1 under Duterte’s war on drugs. Human rights advocates and Philippine allies, including the US, have deplored the killings.
Earlier this month a defiant Duterte cursed US President Barack Obama, and said he would not allow joint patrols of disputed waters near the South China Sea with foreign powers, apparently scrapping a deal his predecessor reached with the US military.
Duterte has also said he is considering acquiring military equipment from Russia and China.
Yasay said the Philippines is pursuing an independent foreign policy that serves its national interests. This would involve strengthening relations with China while not alienating traditional friendships with the US and other allies, he said.
On Wednesday, Duterte reiterated that he was not inclined to go to war, or see Filipino soldiers massacred, in trying to enforce an international tribunal’s ruling in July that supported Manila’s claims that China is overreaching in its territorial claims the South China Sea.
There will be “a time of reckoning,” Duterte said, and when that time comes he said he would tell China: “This is ours. I will talk to you, but I will not go out of the four corners of this [arbitration] paper.”
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