Philippines and US hold war games following President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to abandon defence pact
Philippine leader has indicated he would prefer to forge closer alliances with China and Russia
President Rodrigo Duterte has sustained a verbal assault on the United States, the Philippines’ former colonial ruler and mutual defence partner, since he took office on June 30 in response to criticism of his deadly war on crime.
Duterte has in recent days warned the war games will be the last of his six-year term, and threatened to scrap a defence pact implemented by his predecessor that was meant to see more US troops in the Philippines to counter Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.
“Better think twice now because I will be asking you to leave the Philippines altogether,” Duterte said on Sunday in his latest outburst against the Americans, full of typical invective.
“The Americans, I don’t like them ... they are reprimanding me in public. So I say: ‘Screw you, f*** you’,” he said, while signalling again that he wanted to forge closer alliances with China and Russia.
Last week Duterte, 71, also claimed the CIA was plotting to assassinate him. This came after he branded Barack Obama a “son of a whore” in response to being told the US president planned to raise human rights concerns over his drug war.
A total of 2,000 troops from the two sides are taking part in the war games, including in waters close to flashpoint areas of the South China Sea.
Duterte appears intent on adopting the opposite tactic, saying recently he hopes to travel to China and meet with President Xi Jinping.
Still, Duterte’s comments have not filtered down into government policy, and it remains unclear to what extent he is prepared to damage ties with the United States.
“The [US military] relationship has not changed as of today,” Philippine defence department spokesman Arsenio Andolong said on Monday.
The US Embassy in Manila urged the Philippines on Tuesday to live up to previous agreements.
“We will continue to honour our alliance commitments, and we expect the Philippines to do the same,” embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina said.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the military was aware of Duterte’s comments. But “it hasn’t really so much translated into tangible actions that we’ve seen with regards to our actions under the alliance,” he said.