President Duterte's Discontent With US Could Pose Problems ... For Him

Duterte admitted this could be misconstrued as cutting military alliances with other countries, but the President said he was merely pursuing a more "independent posture, an independent foreign policy".

Ms Bishop said Mr Duterte should be questioned over why he does not want to enforce the ruling of the court considering his country brought the case to the court. "When they go around, I think they go to Cebu or Manila but they don't spend their time unarmed in the area of Mindanao", he said. Thanks. Here, mayor, we will give you an airplane.

"For as long as we stay with America, we will never have peace in that land", Duterte said in a speech to newly appointed government officials. "Short of a world war which we can not participate and which is anyhow useless, I will give you all the things you want", Duterte said.

The tension between the Philippines and the United States has created some speculation that Mr Duterte's resentment about what he sees as colonial-era American interference, plus the prospect of luring big-ticket Chinese investment, could nudge Manila closer to Beijing.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually, while Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have rival claims.

Obama cancelled a planned meeting with Duterte at last week's ASEAN summit after Duterte appeared to call him a "son of a bitch". By boldly guaranteeing military action if China attempts to take control of the Scarborough Shoal, Duterte threatens armed conflict with China that he could not wage without the support of the United States. When studying at the Lyceum of the Philippines at the end of the 1960s, Duterte was an activist and member of the Kabataang Makabayan (KM).

In 2014, the two countries signed a new 10-year military agreement.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may have said he wants to buy arms from China, but he is simply playing China off against the United States rather than presenting a realistic plan, analysts say.

"The U.S. might be concerned that terrorism could revive, but there's very little you could do, and when the president asks you to go, you've got to, because the U.S. has no other choice".

Duterte said he had directed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to join technical staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in visits to Russian Federation and China to "see what is best". Later, he said that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and "technical people" in the armed forces would visit China and Russian Federation "and see what's best".

The shift in the country's foreign policy came a day after Duterte called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Mindanao, supposedly to keep them from being killed by the terror group Abu Sayyaf.

"Our lines are one of the most enduring and important relationships in Asia-Pacific. It will be payable in 2025", Duterte said. Speaking to newly appointed government officials, President Duterte did not offer specifics but he did make his position crystal clear.

"This nationalist narrative has always been there". They have to (leave) Mindanao.

"Also [Duterte] is not a classical leftist, he's not a communist, not even a classically social democrat really, but he uses this nationalist narrative", he said.