F18 fighter jet on the deck of USS Carl Vinson during Freedom of Navigation Operation Patrol in South China Sea, March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Department of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana on Saturday visited the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson patrolling the South China Sea, hailing the "strong relationship" with Washington despite President Rodrigo Duterte's pivot away from Manila's traditional ally.
The US Navy said the USS Carl Vinson had been engaging in "routine operations in the South China Sea" since last month to assert freedom of navigation in the strategic waterway claimed by Beijing, Manila and a host of other Southeast Asian nations.
Secretary Lorenzana said he and other top officials in Duterte's administration had a "very interesting and informative" visit to the aircraft carrier.
With him on the visit were US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, among others.
"We have a strong relationship with the US on account of our mutual defense treaty," Lorenzana added, referring to the cornerstone 1951 agreement.
Duterte has thrown the Philippines' 70-year-old alliance with the US into question, threatening a "separation" from Washington last year and calling for the withdrawal of American troops from his country.
After angrily rejecting US criticism of his deadly war on drugs, the firebrand president has shifted Philippine foreign policy more towards China and Russia.
Duterte has made overtures to Beijing despite a long-running territorial dispute over the South China Sea.
Lorenzana said the Philippines had "nothing to do" with America's naval patrols through Chinese-claimed waters but said he was "impressed" by the aircraft carrier and its some 70 aircraft.
"The warship has more combat planes than the Philippine Air Force," he told AFP.
Under previous governments, Manila tried to improve defense ties with its former colonial ruler Washington to boost one of Asia's weakest armed forces.
Duterte has said he plans to source weapons from Beijing and Moscow instead.
http://interaksyon.com/article/137461/lorenzana-visits-uss-carl-vinson-in-s--china-sea
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