After Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte announced his decision of severing all ties with US and declared that the “country’s long-term alliance with the United States was over,”officials have gone into damage control mode.
As per the CNN, Philippines Trade Minister Ramon Lopez said that the country “would not stop trade and investment with the US.”
“(Duterte) has decided to strengthen further and rekindle the ties with China and the ASEAN region,” Lopez said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
He announced that he would cut both economic and military ties, in favor of moving closer to Beijing and said, “America has lost now. I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow,” to business leaders in Beijing on Thursday.
“And maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia. It’s the only way.”But a spokeswoman for the President back in Manila suggested there was confusion within the government about what exactly Duterte intended.”We would not like to interpret the pronouncements of the President,” Maria Banaag told reporters Friday.
