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Filipino president announces "Separation" - how does that affect our units training there?

Photo credit: Carl Mydans

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In March 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines under the cover of darkness for Australia.  When he arrived in Adelaide he told reporters, "I came through and I shall return."

Wading ashore on Leyte Island in October 1944, he said, "I have returned."

Since then, the United States and the Philippines have enjoyed close diplomatic, economic and military ties.  Units at Joint Base Lewis-McChord train there frequently as part of the pivot to the Pacific.  Just last spring, the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 1-2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from JBLM was in the Phillipines for the annual Balikatan exercise.

Could that exercise and other joint training cease to exist?

Standing in Beijing's Great Hall of the People during a state visit last Thursday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called for a military and economic "separation" from the United States.

"Your honors, in this venue I announce my separation from the United States ... both in military and economics also," he said.

Elected in May 2016, he went on to say that he would continue to pursue economic ties with China and possibly Russia.

Duterte stressed that it's the Philippines, Russia and China "against the world."

Relations between the Philippines and America have cooled since Duterte took offense when President Obama lectured him on human rights violations.

On the following day, Duterte said he was only talking about a "separation of foreign policy" and not a full-scale snub of country's allies in Washington.

"It is not severance to ties," with Washington, Duterte said.  "When you say severance of ties, you cut diplomatic relations.  I cannot do that. I said separation - what I was really saying was separation of foreign policy."

It is a confusing parsing of the language loaded with history.

After the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States paid Spain $20 million to take over colonial rule of the Philippines.

The Philippine-American War soon commenced and lasted three years, ending in 1902 with the Philippines placed under the governance of America.

When World War II began, America and Filipino forces worked to defeat the occupying Japanese forces.

President Duterte was born in 1945, five months after MacArthur's return.

Some officials believe Duterte's antipathy toward American foreign policy and his pivot toward China rest in his resentment of American colonialism.

In July 1946, the United States granted the Philippines its independence after its liberation from Japanese control.

American economic aid and military hardware poured into the country, and the Philippines grew to become a key component in America's Cold War strategy.

The Cold War ended in 1989, and relations between America and the Philippines began to change.

In 1991, the Philippine Senate rejected a new treaty for U.S. operations in Subic Bay.

As the threat of Islamic terrorism rose, American forces appeared in the southern island of Mindanao and several smaller ones to a growing Islamic threat.

In September, Duterte canceled U.S.-Philippine military exercises, and he has said he may cancel a 2014 U.S.-Philippine defense pact, a component of the military's "Asian pivot" which allows America to deploy soldiers to Philippine bases.

While in Beijing he signed business deals with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who promised the Philippines over $23 billion in loans and other economic incentives in return for Mr. Duterte's agreement to restart bilateral talks concerning disputes in the South China Sea.

Many Filipinos are perplexed by this action. The vast majority of the population holds a positive view of the United States and a skeptical view of China.

Local Filipino-American organizations were contacted but leaders were guarded in their responses.

"There are mixed feeling," commented a member active in one of the local Filipino-American organizations who would only speak anonymously.

"I am disturbed by these comments, but I think the ties between the United States and the Philippines are important and will probably remain strong."

During a speech in San Diego in September, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter called America's alliance with the Philippines "ironclad."

That could change.

"The key question now is whether Duterte is going to rescind our access to our bases in the Philippines," commented Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

In an earlier speech in September, Duterte said that he would review its policy of allowing American forces to combat terrorist groups in Mindanao.  As many as 1,300 Special Forces have been present since 2002, including many from the 1st Special Forces Group headquartered at JBLM.

"These Special Forces, they have to go," Duterte said.  "They have to, in Mindanao - there are many white men there."

This thinking may put at risk the Obama administration's maritime security initiative with Southeast Asian countries, in which the Philippines play a key role, in helping them resist Chinese pressure in their attempts to pursue territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The loss of bases in the Philippines would be a "significant blow," continued Manning.

"If the Philippines are out - and they're in the thick of it - that starts to raise questions about our whole approach to the region."

Requests for comment on this possible change to I Corps have not been answered.

Although public opinion polls suggest that Duterte is popular at home, his anti-American comments are at odds with public opinion.

"What is unfolding here before us must be considered a national tragedy," said Albert del Rosario, a former Philippines foreign secretary, "and it is our earnest hope that this most unfortunate declaration will be corrected."

State department officials say that the United States has not received any formal request to withdraw its forces, and that it would be premature to respond to media reports about Duterte's comments.

"We remain committed to our alliance with the Philippines," John Kirby, State Department spokesman, said.

"It's been a long, productive history."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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