Rodrigo Duterte said last week he is “not American puppet”, on Monday he added that U.S. Special Forces should go out of his country. An emotional Philippines leader blamed America for inflaming Muslim insurgencies in the region as well.
President Duterte has started a new week from the public statement opposing the presence of U.S. troops in the south of his country. Rodrigo Duterte became a President in June, since that time his relationship with the U.S. has been a bit tense. Duterte said:
“The special forces, they have to go. They have to go in Mindanao, there are many whites there, they have to go. I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go.”
Duterte allowed himself to criticize the American security policies aimed to chart a foreign policy that would not depend on America. Duterte’s recent demand to remove U.S. military personnel from Philippines’ territory got an official answer of Washington, which said it had not received a formal request to remove its troops.
According to White House, American military deployed in the southern Philippines troops to train, advise and provide intelligence and weapons to local troops in 2002. That time country was fighting Al Qaeda-linked militant group Abu Sayyaf militants. Since then most of the US troops pulled out in 2015, just a few military advisers stay over there now.
