US, Philippines start joint military exercises amid alliance doubts

Annual joint military exercises by the United States and the Philippines got underway Tuesday with the alliance between the two countries increasingly in doubt.

U.S. military leaders touted a strong alliance during the opening ceremony of the drills, but they come a week after the president of the Philippines pledged this would be the last joint exercise, and the same day he made headlines for another disparaging remark about President Obama.

{mosads}“We share a unique and enduring bond in this region, and each year we are offered an invitation to strengthen our relationship during” the exercises, U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. John Jansen said in a speech, according to Reuters.

The 33rd annual Philippines Amphibious Landing Exercise, running Tuesday through Oct. 12, will see 1,400 U.S. service members based in Okinawa, Japan, and 500 Filipino troops participate in amphibious landing and live-fire training drills.

In a speech last week, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte pledged this exercise will be “the last one.”

“I am serving notice now to the Americans: This will be the last military exercise,” Duterte said during a visit to Vietnam. “Jointly, Philippines-U.S.: the last one.”

Prior to Duterte’s election, U.S.-Filipino military relations appeared to be strengthening around shared concerns over China’s actions in the South China Sea and after the Philippines’s supreme court upheld a defense cooperation pact between the two countries that allows the U.S. troop presence in that country to grow.

But in addition to saying joint exercises will not continue, Duterte previously said U.S. special forces fighting terrorism on a southern island must leave. He also threatened this week to end the 2014 defense pact with the United States.

Duterte has been furious at the United States for its criticism of his war on drugs. More than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers have been killed since he took office in June.

On Tuesday, Duterte said that Obama can “go to hell” for his criticism of the drug policies. He previously called Obama a “son of a b—h.”