Philippines' defence minister says military can cope without US aid
MANILA- US-Philippines ties are going through "bumps on the road" and the Philippine military could manage if treaty ally the United States were to withdraw aid, the defence minister said on Friday.
The Philippines intended to buy arms from China and Russia and there had been no adverse reaction from within the military to President Rodrigo Duterte's vows to scale back defence ties with the United States, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana's remarks suggested he was following other top officials in Duterte's administration in rallying behind the maverick president's tough anti-US agenda after weeks of scrambling to manage the fallout from his outbursts and threats to downgrade the alliance.
Lorenzana had on Wednesday set a conciliatory tone, saying Duterte may have been misinformed when he said US-Philippine military exercises were no benefit to his country.
