Rody-Obama meeting still possible at APEC

WASHINGTON – White House spokesman Josh Earnest has left open the possibility of a bilateral meeting between President Barack Obama and President Duterte on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month in Peru.

He said he did not know whether Duterte would attend the summit or how much time Obama’s schedule would allow for bilateral meetings on the sidelines.

A schedule is still being worked out, Earnest said.

Asked if the White House would be open to arranging an Obama-Duterte meeting, Earnest said “it’s not one I’m prepared to rule out at this point.”

“But we’ve ruled out previous meetings with President Duterte on short notice,” he pointed out.

Obama scrapped a meeting with Duterte in September on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Laos after the Filipino leader called him a “son of a b**ch” for raising human rights concerns regarding Duterte’s bloody campaign against drugs and criminality.

Some 3,700 people have been reported killed since June 30 at the start of the Duterte administration.

This will be the first APEC meeting for Duterte and the last for Obama who will step down on Jan. 20, 2017 following the Nov. 8 US presidential election.

Earnest said a “string of counterproductive rhetoric” by Duterte has injected some unnecessary uncertainty in the relationship between the Philippines and the US.

“That rhetoric that we’ve seen quite a bit of over the last several weeks is not indicative of the strong relationship between the United States and the Philippines. It’s not indicative of the seven-decade-long alliance between our two countries.  It’s not indicative of the deep cultural ties between our two countries, particularly given the sizeable Filipino-American population in this country,” he said.

Earnest said despite Duterte’s unwelcome rhetoric, “we haven’t received any formal notification or communication from the Filipino government that they’re planning to make any changes to our relationship.”

President Duterte said during the Philippine Economic Forum in Tokyo that he wants US troops out of the Philippines in the next two years and all military agreements with Washington scrapped if necessary.

Duterte’s remarks followed a series of anti-American tirades.

Earnest said there is a diplomatic process wherein the Philippines could formally notify the US of its intent to alter the terms of the alliance between the two countries. 

“We’ve received no formal notification along those lines. So that’s why I would classify as rhetoric at this point the news that’s been made out of the Philippines,” Earnest said.

“It does contribute to some uncertainty and that uncertainty is inconsistent with what has for the last seven decades been a rock-solid alliance that’s benefitted people and governments in both countries,” he added.

The US official said it also not indicative of the kind of support that the US has offered to the Philippines in the past.  

In the last couple of years, he said the US military has mobilized an aggressive response to assist the Filipino people as they respond, recover and rebuild in the aftermath of large storms in the Pacific Ocean.

He said this is the nature of the US relationship with the Philippines and an indication of how beneficial this relationship has been to the citizens of both countries.  

“And we certainly would welcome more rhetoric that is reflective of that relationship, and not rhetoric that only contributes to greater uncertainty about the willingness of the Filipino government to live up to commitments that they’ve abided by for seven decades,” he said. 

Not the end

Despite Duterte’s declaration that the recently concluded joint military exercises between the US and Filipino forces will be the last under his term, these are not about to end after all.

The Philippine Army is announced yesterday that a month-long joint training dubbed Phl-US Exercise Balance Pistol 16-4 would be conducted from middle of November to December in Palawan.

“Based on its annual program, the Philippine Army will engage in a one-month joint and combined training exercise with the US Special Operations,” Army spokesman Col. Benjamin Hao said.

The Army official said the training would enhance the war fighting capabilities and interoperability of both the PA’s Special Forces and the US Special Operations Forces.

 Most of the joint military activities, which will be participated by more than a dozen US  Special Operations troops and a company-size Philippine troops, will be held at a maritime training facility in Puerto Princesa City and military camp in the municipality of Rizal this year.

A coastal town, Rizal faces the West Philippine Sea and the nearest land area to Ayungin Shoal currently being guarded by a contingent of Filipino troops aboard a grounded Philippine Navy ship, BRP Sierra Madre.

“Since it is an annual training activity, the Philippine Army continues its preparations unless another order issued by higher headquarters,” Hao said.

The joint US-Phl military exercises are being conducted yearly under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.  – With Jaime Laude, Pia Lee-Brago