Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said that the nation’s forces could fight insurgents and Muslim extremists without US military help, in a defense of his decision to terminate a security pact with Washington.
Duterte also said that he would stick to a decision made early in his presidency — when he was enraged by then-US president Barack Obama’s criticism of his deadly anti-drug crackdown — that he would not visit the US.
Duterte has often criticized US security policies, while praising China and Russia since taking office in mid-2016 for a six-year term.
US President Donald Trump has invited Duterte to join a meeting he is to host for ASEAN leaders in Las Vegas, Nevada, next month.
Duterte has better relations with Trump than with Obama, but his remarks supported an earlier statement by his spokesman that he would not attend the Las Vegas meeting.
“Do we need America to survive as a nation?” Duterte said. “Do we need ... the might and power of the military of the United States to fight our rebellion here and the terrorists down south, and control drugs? The military and police said: ‘Sir, we can do it.’”
“If we can’t do it, we have no business being a republic,” he said. “You might as well choose. We can be a territory of the Americans or we can be a province of China.”
The Philippine government notified the US two weeks ago that it intends to end the Visiting Forces Agreement, which allows US forces to train in large numbers in the Philippines, in the most serious threat to the two nations’ 69-year treaty alliance.
The termination takes effect after 180 days unless both sides agree to keep the agreement. The waiting period allows the allies to renegotiate contentious terms of the 1998 agreement.
The accord allows the entry and temporary stay of US forces, along with ships and aircraft, for joint training with Philippine troops.
The maneuvers include annual drills that Philippine security officials have credited with helping beat back communist insurgents nationwide and militants in the south of the nation.
The agreement specifies which nation has jurisdiction over US troops who are accused of crimes while in the Philippines, a sensitive issue in the former US colony.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has called the decision by Manila “unfortunate.”
However, Trump reacted dismissively.
“If they would like to do that, that’s fine. We’ll save a lot of money,” Trump said.
Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr, who signed the notice of termination at Duterte’s direction, has proposed a review of the agreement to fix contentious issues instead of abrogating it.
Duterte threatened to terminate the agreement after Washington reportedly canceled the US visa of a loyal ally, Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who was linked to human rights violations when he enforced the president’s deadly anti-drug crackdown as national police chief in 2016.
Duterte gave the US a month to restore Dela Rosa’s visa, but US officials have not publicly reacted to his demand.
Thousands of mostly poor suspects have been killed under Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.
Duterte on Wednesday rejected what he said was the portrayal by some US officials of his administration persecuting a detained opposition senator and being incapable of investigating extrajudicial killings.
“We were being portrayed as a republic incapable of administering simple justice,” Duterte said.
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