The U.S. alliance with the Philippines will survive President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for a “separation,” the State Department said following diplomatic meetings about the recent comments.
Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary Daniel Russel, who traveled to the Philippines as part of a previously-scheduled trip, warned Filipino leaders not to undermine “our rich people-to-people ties” and reiterated the U.S. commitment to honor defense treaties with the Philippines.
“I think they both came away from the discussions realizing that the relationship remains stable and solid and that we obviously both are going to have to work to sustain it and keep it going,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “But they both came away from their discussions feeling that we are going to be able to work through this period and to continue to be able to meet our mutual requirements to one another.”
Duterte has insulted President Obama repeatedly since taking office, to the consternation of U.S. officials, but his call for a “separation” from the U.S. during a trip to China shocked the world even by his standards.
“I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to [President Vladimir] Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world — China, Philippines and Russia,” Duterte said last week. “It’s the only way.”
Duterte attempted to walk back that statement in an ensuing press conference, but he still maintained that foreign policies of the longtime allies would diverge. “It is not severance of ties,” he said. “As in separation, what I was really saying was separation of foreign policy. … In the past, and until I became president, we always follow when the United States would give the cue.”
Those comments reflect a central aspect of Duterte’s foreign policy. In September, Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay emphasized that the Philippines are chafing at the current alliance. “We cannot forever be the little brown brothers of America,” he said during a trip to D.C.
Kirby wouldn’t say exactly what assurances Filipino diplomats gave to the U.S. officials, nor would he state specifically that such a “separation” would not take place. “I think the tone and tenor of the discussions that they had and the assurances that the Philippine side gave to their commitment to keeping the relationship going was enough to lead the secretary and the assistant secretary to believe that we are going to be able to work through this,” he said. “Danny is still there, I’m not going to get ahead of final readouts of his meetings.”
