Despite President’s Threat, US troops Train in Philippines
Local Editor
Filipino and US troops began training exercises this week, the Philippines military said Wednesday, despite President Rodrigo Duterte's threats to end joint war games and kick American soldiers out of his country as he edges closer to Beijing.
Duterte called for the withdrawal of American troops from his country in response to international criticism of his deadly war on drugs.
He also announced an end to joint war games after an amphibious exercise involving several hundred US and Filipino marines finished last month.
But Wednesday, military spokesmen told AFP about an ongoing month-long joint training exercise involving around 30-40 Filipino soldiers and an unspecified number of US Special Forces.
"This is a very small bilateral activity," Filipino military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla said, referring to the exercise that kicked off Monday on the island of Palawan in the west of the archipelago.
Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Benjamin Hao earlier told reporters that the exercise was intended "to test the basic war fighting skills of our soldiers [and] to improve the relationship of both armed forces".
However, Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, said in Washington that military cooperation between the US and the Philippines is unchanged for now.
The Philippine military said it was awaiting guidelines from Duterte on whether the joint war games with its key defense ally would continue to be held next year. The country hosts 28 such exercises annually.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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