Philippines’ Duterte softens stance on US

“The alliances are alive,” Duterte told the media in Manila on Monday. “There should be no worry about changes of alliances. I do not need to have alliances with other nations.” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to keep ties with the Phillipines tight during Duterte’s visit to Japan, starting from Tuesday. Duterte, a former prosecutor and mayor who has had a series of outbursts against the United States since taking office in June, jolted the region last week on a trip to China, when he announced Manila’s “separation” from Washington and realignment toward Beijing. Duterte’s aides and the president himself later tried to clarify that he  did not mean he was cutting ties with the United States and his remarks on Monday were the most conciliatory yet.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is confident after speaking to his Philippine counterpart that the two countries can ‘work through’ a period of confusion caused by anti-American rhetoric from President Rodrigo Duterte, the State Department said. State Department spokesman John Kirby said, Kerry expressed concern in his conversation on Sunday with Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay about the tone of remarks by the Philippine presi-dent, who has sharply criticized President Barack Obama and talked of separation from Washing-ton. At the same time, Kerry emphasized strong and stable ties between the longtime allies, while Kirby said Washington had seen no practical action by Manila to move away from those. Kerry’s conversation with Yasay came after Duterte provoked alarm last week by announcing a “separation” from the United States and realignment with China during a visit to Beijing.