Reuters, Manila :
The president of the Philippines wants to liberate his country from a “shackling dependency” on the United States which can not guarantee its help when Philippine sovereignty is under threat, its foreign minister said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, in the most forceful show of accord from a top official with President Rodrigo Duterte’s tough anti-American stance, said the president was “compelled to realign” Philippine foreign policy and not submit to U.S. demands and interests.
“Breaking away from the shackling dependency of the Philippines to effectively address both internal and external security threats has become imperative in putting an end to our nation’s subservience to United States’ interests,” Yasay said in a Facebook post.
Yasay’s assessment of U.S. ties follows a diplomatic storm over Duterte’s declarations over the past eight days that joint U.S.-Philippines military exercises would cease, a defense agreement would be reviewed and at an undisclosed time, he might “break up” with the United States.
On Monday, Duterte said U.S. President Barack Obama should “go to hell”, the latest rebuke stemming from U.S. concern about Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.
On Thursday, Duterte said the United States and European Union should withdraw their assistance to the Philippines if they were unhappy with his crackdown. Asked about the ongoing criticism from Manila, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was ‘mindful of the rhetoric but we believe that it is at odds with the kind of cooperation that we have right now.”
Meanwhile, the Philippine defense chief said Friday that he told the U.S. military that plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea have been put on hold, the first concrete break in defense cooperation after months of increasingly strident comments by the country’s new president.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also said that 107 U.S. troops involved in operating surveillance drones against Muslim militants would be asked to leave the southern part of the country once the Philippines acquires those intelligence-gathering capabilities in the near future.
The president of the Philippines wants to liberate his country from a “shackling dependency” on the United States which can not guarantee its help when Philippine sovereignty is under threat, its foreign minister said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, in the most forceful show of accord from a top official with President Rodrigo Duterte’s tough anti-American stance, said the president was “compelled to realign” Philippine foreign policy and not submit to U.S. demands and interests.
“Breaking away from the shackling dependency of the Philippines to effectively address both internal and external security threats has become imperative in putting an end to our nation’s subservience to United States’ interests,” Yasay said in a Facebook post.
Yasay’s assessment of U.S. ties follows a diplomatic storm over Duterte’s declarations over the past eight days that joint U.S.-Philippines military exercises would cease, a defense agreement would be reviewed and at an undisclosed time, he might “break up” with the United States.
On Monday, Duterte said U.S. President Barack Obama should “go to hell”, the latest rebuke stemming from U.S. concern about Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.
On Thursday, Duterte said the United States and European Union should withdraw their assistance to the Philippines if they were unhappy with his crackdown. Asked about the ongoing criticism from Manila, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was ‘mindful of the rhetoric but we believe that it is at odds with the kind of cooperation that we have right now.”
Meanwhile, the Philippine defense chief said Friday that he told the U.S. military that plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea have been put on hold, the first concrete break in defense cooperation after months of increasingly strident comments by the country’s new president.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also said that 107 U.S. troops involved in operating surveillance drones against Muslim militants would be asked to leave the southern part of the country once the Philippines acquires those intelligence-gathering capabilities in the near future.
