The Department of National Defense (DND) on Thursday said it had not received any written instruction from Malacañang to stop war games with US forces, adding to uncertainty and confusion over the status of security ties between the Philippines and the United States.
Arsenio Andolong, DND public affairs service chief, said a formal notice needed to be served on the United States through the Department of Foreign Affairs if the Philippines wanted to end the annual war games.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines also said it had not received orders from the government to stop joint exercises with US forces.
“We take cognizance of news reports that the Commander in Chief has given instructions pertaining to the exercises … that he mentioned it in his speech at the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) anniversary.
“But in so far as the AFP is concerned, we have not yet received any written instruction or orders to that effect,” said Col. Edgard Arevalo, spokesperson for the AFP.
President Duterte has made a series of conflicting statements about the future of the Philippines’ longstanding alliance with Washington.
Last week, he said US President Barack Obama should “go to hell” and alluded to severing ties with the United States.
Speaking at the PCG anniversary celebration on Wednesday, Mr. Duterte said he would maintain the Philippines’ existing defense treaties and military alliances.
He said defense alliances would continue and his foreign policy was to “realign.” But he reiterated that joint exercises with US troops, a decades-old tradition, would be stopped.
Part of the realignment has been overtures toward China and Russia, which Mr. Duterte has spoken highly of and plans to visit in the weeks ahead, starting with China from Oct. 18 to 21.
“We need not really break or abrogate our existing treaties because they say that it could provide us with the umbrella,” Mr. Duterte said.
The President, who styles himself as a socialist, has also said he would not allow any more joint patrols with the US Navy in the South China Sea.
His statements have caused confusion both in Manila and in Washington, as the war games and the joint patrols are covered by the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel told a news briefing in Washington on Wednesday that he was baffled by a “panoply” of statements by Mr. Duterte.
“But what that will ultimately translate [into] in terms of the ability of the Philippines to work with the United States on issues directly germane to security and even some of the regional and global challenges it faces … we don’t have an answer to just yet,” Russel said.
He said he was not aware of any changes in security cooperation but added, “I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen.”
Russel said that if the Philippine government were to propose specific changes to the relationship, the United States would “deal with that.” —WITH REPORTS FROM THE WIRES