The enemy of the United States is also the enemy of the Philippines. This was how President Duterte’s press secretary described the Philippines’s position in the nuclear tension between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the US.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar said Washington has the backing of Manila in its virtual standoff with Pyongyang. “Our government supports our allies—United States, South Korea, Japan,” Andanar said in a radio interview over the weekend.
“So, whatever dreads the United States also dreads the Philippines, especially that there are thousands of Filipinos in Japan, South Korea and Guam,” Andanar added. He said the President and Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano are keeping a close watch over the conflict.
US President Donald J. Trump last Wednesday vowed to respond to North Korea with “fire and fury” should it make any more threats to strike the US with its ballistic missiles.
“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States [because] they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” Trump told reporters.
In response to Trump’s comments, North Korea said it is closely studying a plan to strike Guam at any moment, which could hurt a population of as much as 160,000. The small island, in the western Pacific, also shelters thousands of American military personnel.
“North Korea knows who its enemies are and who the allies of the US are. On our part, we will always be here for the United States and our allies,” Andanar said.
The press secretary added the Philippines is doing everything it has to do to maintain peace and order in the region as part of Duterte’s chairmanship of the Asean.
“At the same time, we [have to] always act together with our Asean neighbors and, of course, as an ally of the United States,” Andanar said.
In a joint communiqué, foreign ministers of the Asean urged the DPRK “to fully and immediately comply with its obligations arising from all the relevant United Nations Security Council resolution”. Headed by Cayetano, the diplomats said they support the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the resumption of dialogue to de-escalate tensions in the region.
Meanwhile, Armed Forces Spokesman Restituto F. Padilla Jr. last Friday said the least the Philippines could receive from a potential DPRK strike on Guam are debris of the ballistic missile. “We don’t see this as potentially hitting us in any way because it is directed toward an outer island of the Pacific itself,” Padilla said in a news briefing.
“[Debris] could hit some northern coastal areas so we have to forewarn our citizens to be on the lookout, but that’s something that we see as remote,” Padilla added.