Ambassador says Duterte was ‘misinformed’, United States not building arms depot in Philippines
The United States is not building any weapons depot anywhere in the Philippines, the US ambassador said on Tuesday, denying the basis on which President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to abrogate a 2014 defence pact that allows U.S. forces to temporarily base in local camps.
Perhaps some misinformation was given to the president and that is why he made the statement expressing concerns about a possible weapons depot
Ambassador Sung Kim said that nothing is being planned now that even closely resembles a weapons depot.
“I think perhaps some misinformation was given to the president and that is why he made the statement expressing concerns about a possible weapons depot,” Kim told a forum of business leaders. “The fact is, we are not building a weapons depot anywhere in the Philippines.”
Projects being pursued under the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement have to do with disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, he added.
Kim also pointed out that the agreement “provide for us to build facilities and structures in 5 Filipino bases” and it is “hard to imagine that we would be able to do anything on Filipino bases that are not acceptable to the Filipino people, Filipino leadership”.
He said he would not allow the Americans to store weapons in local camps under the two countries’ defence pact because the Philippines may get entangled if fighting erupts between China and the US