Trinidad to Sara Duterte: ‘AFP will keep performing its mandate’
Despite Vice President Sara Duterte’s criticisms of the country’s foreign policy, the Armed Forces of the Philippines vowed on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, to continue undertaking its mandate in protecting the national interest. PHOTO by Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Despite Vice President Sara Duterte’s criticisms of the country’s foreign policy, the Armed Forces of the Philippines vowed on Tuesday to continue undertaking its mandate in protecting the national interest.
Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, in a press conference, was asked about Duterte’s remarks questioning the country’s foreign policy, its purported “leaning” towards a “foreign power,” and the United States’ deployment of its missile system to the Philippines.
“We defer all matters of policy to the proper government agency,” Trinidad initially said.
“Nevertheless, your Armed Forces will keep performing its mandate in furtherance of protecting our national interest all over the country,” he added.
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Over the weekend, Duterte delivered a speech before a group of Filipinos in Australia, where for the first time, she commented on the issue surrounding the West Philippine Sea.
“We already won in the arbitral award. We already have an award from that case that we filed using the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas. The whole world knows the content of the arbitral awards,” she said.
“And the only thing that you need to do is force the recognition and implementation of the award through diplomatic channels, hindi yung kikilingan mo ang isang foreign power, papapasukin mo ang mga missile ng foreign power sa bansa mo na alam mong kinaiinisan noong kalaban nya na wala ka namang kinalaman sa gitgitan nilang dalawa,” she added.
(The only thing that you need to do is force the recognition and implementation of the award through diplomatic channels, not that you will favor a foreign power and allow the missiles of a foreign power into your country, that you know, is hated by its enemy. You have nothing to do with the conflict between the two of them.)
Duterte also claimed that the problem in the West Philippine Sea does not “make up” the Philippines’ “entire relation with China.”
“So, therefore, there is no reason for you to lean towards the US. You always have to stay in the middle ‘cause you are not part of the bigger conflict. You always stay in the middle,” she stressed.
“You are friends with the US, yes. You are friends with China, yes. And we are friends with Australia, very good bilateral relations with Australia. In fact, we want to take it to the next level and forge stronger ties with Australia. And not just Australia, but other countries as well,” the vice president added.
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The first US-made mid-range capability (MRC) “Typhon” missile system arrived in the Philippines on April 11, 2024, and was first used during the Balikatan exercises.
It has remained in the country since and was last spotted in Ilocos Norte, a coastal province facing Taiwan, which China deems as a renegade province subject to reunification.
Last March, reports claimed that another MRC Typhon missile from the US Indo-Pacific Command was already on its way to the country.
Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla welcomed this development, saying it would help their personnel train more effectively.
“This is a welcome development for the Armed Forces of the Philippines. We can say that the more the merrier. So the more assets that we have, the more also that we are able to train more personnel on our part. So we accept this willingly,” Padilla said./coa
