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| President Rodrigo Duterte |
MANILA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday that he is against the implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that Manila and Washington signed in 2014, hinting again that he might just scrap the agreement that allows prolonged deployment of American forces in the country as well as build logistics hub in Philippine military bases.
Duterte, who arrived early Friday back in Davao City from an overnight official visit to Malaysia, told a news conference that he does not want to see any foreign troops on Philippine soil.
He added that the joint military activities that will be carried out this year by the Philippine and U.S. troops would probably be the last.
In fact, he said that he only gave the go-ahead for the EDCA activities to push through this year because they were already firmed up by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
"By the time I talked to (Lorenzana) the arrangement has already been firmed up. I do not want to embarrass the Philippines and, of course, not so much because I was already vocal against it. But in deference to the secretary of defense I said go ahead but this should be the last time," Duterte said.
Read the full story at Xinhua