Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Speaks on PH Relations w/ U.S., China
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President stressed that the Philippines’ relationships with the United States and China must be separate.
Vice Pres. Duterte who has returned to the Philippines from Melbourne, Australia was recently criticized over her statement about the ties of the Philippines with U.S. and China. She previously claimed that the country should remain in the middle of the two (2) super powers.
The remarks of Vice Pres. Duterte earned different comments from the Filipinos. Malacañang claimed that it was expected as the Duterte family is allegedly “pro-China”. Recently, the Vice President clarified her previous remarks.
Based on a report on PhilStar, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte stressed that in the Philippine Constitution, it is clearly stated that the country must have an independent foreign policy. She stressed that the country’s relationship with the U.S. and China “should be two separate engagements”.
“We should not lean towards the US for our problems with China, particularly our issues in the West Philippine Sea,” the Vice President said.
Based on the report, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that the Marcos administration is allegedly leaning towards the U.S. and is alienating China. According to her, the country should not be involved in the competition of the two (2) countries.
“I believe that the Philippines should not be involved in cooperation and competition at the same time, with the US and China being a middle power in the game of supremacy and domination,” she said.
The Vice President raised a question on why the Marcos administration greenlit the United States’ deployment of a weapon system in the country which allegedly alienated Beijing. Aside from Malacañang, based on the report, former Senator Leila de Lima also reacted to the previous statement of the Vice President.
According to former Sen. Leila de Lima who is set to return to the government as the representative of the ML-partylist, claimed that the statement of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte allegedly made her a “traitor” just like her father, former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
De Lima is one of the staunch critics of the Duterte administration. Currently, former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is in The Hague, Netherlands. He is detained under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the alleged crime against humanity over his drug war.
Recently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that the Marcos admin allegedly wanted to eliminate her as “frontrunner” of the 2028 presidential race.