Philippines President to End Joint US-Philippines Drills

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said his administration will end the long-running joint military drills with the United States, emphasizing that an upcoming exercise slated for next month will be the last between the two countries. "I will serve notice to you now, that this will be the last military exercise, jointly Philippines-US, the last one," Duterte said during an address in Hanoi to Filipinos living in Vietnam. 

The Philippines and the United States will hold Amphibious Landing Exercises from October 4 to 12 in the Philippines. The two countries staged in April a large set of exercises involving more than 8,000 forces from both sides. 

The annual joint military exercises have been a pillar of a defense alliance between Manila and Washington, which dates back to 1951. 

Source : QNA