The Department of National Defense (DND) welcomed the possibility that the Philippines will be having joint military exercises with China and Russia.
This is the reaction of DND after President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday in a television interview that he is open to having war games with China and Russia.
However, the President reiterated he will no longer allow that the military forces of the Philippines will engage in a joint military exercises with the United States in the following years.
On Tuesday, DND public affairs service chief Arsenio Andolong said the Philippine troops welcome the possible war games, as preferred by the President.
“Conducting military exercises with foreign counterparts is practiced by the armed forces of many countries all over the world and any opportunity to train with a foreign army or navy will be welcomed by our own soldiers,” Andolong said.
Andolong added that joint military exercises with other countries will be beneficial to the forces of the government.
“If exercises were to be held between our AFP and the forces of Russia or China, it would serve to expose us to new technologies and doctrines, which may prove useful to us in the future,” he said.
In an interview over Hong Kong-based television, Duterte was asked if he would consider joint military exercises with China or Russia, and he said: “Yes, I will. I have given enough time for the Americans to play with the Filipino soldiers.”
“This will be the last. It has been programmed. I do not want my soldiers to be humiliated,” Duterte said.
Duterte has repeatedly throw public tirades against the United States after the ally country criticized his war on crime and drugs, which has claimed more than 3,700 lives, since he assumed office on June 30.
He has also announced that the Philippines would no longer join joint patrols with foreign navies in the disputed South China Sea or West Philippine Sea.