The Philippines will not participate in any joint expeditions with the United States, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday, March 21.
Duterte remarked that the Philippines would “stand on our own,” saying the country had enough of getting nothing but “brutality and agony.”
“I’m addressing America right now, whatever expeditions that you will conduct, any wars that you will fight in any other countries, count us out,” Duterte said during the graduation of the Philippine National Police Academy “Maragtas” class of 2018 in Cavite.
“Wala kaming nakuha (We did not gain anything) all these years of sacrifice except brutality and agony. We will stand on our own,” he added.
The president further remarked that the Philippines had enough of colonial rule.
“We have been enslaved by two countries in succession – Spaniards for 400 years and the Americans for 50 years. Tama na po ‘yon (That’s enough). You have had your fill. Do not ask for more,” he said.
Citing the wars in Iraq during the terms of former U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, Duterte criticized how Washington “always demand [their allies] that they participate in the expeditions.”
In 2003, the Philippines sent a 51-member humanitarian troop to the Multi-National Force but pulled out the following year after the kidnapping of a Filipino contract worker in Iraq, who was later released.
Duterte also lashed out at the U.S. for allegedly stealing the natural resources of the Philippines and the oil in Middle Eastern countries.
“You stole our natural resources. You stole the oil of the Arab countries, divided it arbitrarily into a nation at ngayon kumukuha pa rin kayo, hinihigop pa rin ‘yung oil (and now you are still stealing oil from them). And there is trouble everywhere,” he said.
He noted that the Philippines would only participate in joint explorations “unless we are threatened directly.”
“Unless we are threatened directly, there will be no more joint expeditions,” he said. “At least sa panahon ko. Maghintay kayong lahat kung mawala ako. (At least during my term. Wait until I’m gone.)”
While the Philippines and the U.S. were long-time allies, the Duterte administration’s relationship with Washington apparently turned sour after former U.S. President Barrack Obama criticized Duterte’s drug war.
Duterte, however, seemed to have a better relationship with current U.S. President Donald Trump, who, unlike his predecessor, has lauded the Philippine government’s drug war.
