Duterte to send troops to Russia for training

From the Daily Tribune (Feb 19): Duterte to send troops to Russia for training

To boost military ties between the Philippines and Russia, President Duterte late Friday night said that he is going to send a handful of troops to Moscow for training.

Talking to the alumni of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class of 1967 over dinner, the Commander in Chief reiterated his desire to seek Russian help for the country’s state security forces after a closed door meeting with Russian Federation Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev in Davao City last Thursday.

“The Russian delegation talked to me. And we discussed so many matters and they want to train our soldiers also and initially last night, I committed to send 10 Philippine National Police (PNP) members and 10 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” Duterte said.

“We have to connect with Russia because not only about weapons but the critical mass of information that we can share with them. We cannot just afford to just wait for something out of this generosity,” he added.

Aware that most of the AFP’s top honchos were trained in the United States, the Commander in Chief explained to the band of retired generals that the US has not helped the Philippines.

“I know that most of you went to the United States to study after you graduated from the academy, along the way in your career. I know how you feel about it,” Duterte said, addressing the PMA alumni attended the academy’s annual alumni homecoming here.

“But, as usual, there’s always a double talk there and in our relations with other countries, particularly the US, but they are not helping us,” he said.

Duterte also feels bullied by Washington due to his assertion of his so-called independent foreign policy.

“Sometimes, if you were told, ‘you know, you’re about to lose your assistance and everything if you don’t behave.’ So I took that as a very serious offense against the people,” the President explained.

In most of his speeches last year, the Chief Executive keeps on harping that he is “separating” in military and economic terms from the Philippines’ traditional ally, the US, as a part of his independent foreign policy.

Through the course of his foreign policy, Duterte was able to make friends with America’s cold war rivals Russia and China.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/duterte-to-send-troops-to-russia-for-training