MANILA is willing to end its military alliance with Washington once it finds that it is no longer in the Philippines’ interest, Foreign Secretary Pefecto Yasay Jr. warned Monday.
Yasay clarified what President Rodrigo Duterte meant when he said the Philippines would pursue an “independent foreign policy” amid an ongoing spat with the United States.
In his personal Facebook account, Yasay posted a six-paragraph statement over the weekend, saying an independent foreign policy meant self-reliance and the promotion of national interest.
The 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US is among the international agreements that the Philippines won’t hesitate to terminate “when national interests are no longer served,” Yasay said.
“In building on the economic pillar of our foreign relations, we must recognize that all nations -- whether weak or strong, small or big -- will be interdependent with each other. The distribution of capital and resources,
products and markets around the globe will always have a compelling effect upon such interdependence. This is how every country will make their economy dynamic, robust and sustainable for the welfare of its people,” the Cabinet official said.
He argued that “relationships toward this convergence of interests must be balanced and fair to be mutually beneficial to all concerned.”