Duterte: No cutting of ties with the US, just separate foreign policy

There will be no cutting of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and the United States, President Rodrigo Duterte said in Davao City on Saturday after midnight.

In a news conference upon his arrival from a four-day state visit in Beijing, Duterte said his declaration of an economic and military split with the US was about no longer following the superpower's supposed dictates rather than a severance of relationships.

"It's not severance of ties. When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations. I cannot do that," Duterte said.

Duterte said cutting diplomatic ties with the US would not be according to the interest of Filipinos, citing the millions of Filipinos and Americans "of Filipino ancestry in the US."

"What I mean was a separation of foreign policy... In the past we always follow what the US will give the cue," Duterte said.

"In the past we always follow what the US will give the cue... Hindi ako magsunod," he added.

He added that he would also consult the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police as regards the implications of an independent foreign policy on the country's military agreements with the US.

"Because at the end of the day it is all security," Duterte said. -NB, GMA News