U.S. Officials Respond On Duterte's Withdrawal Of The Remaining U.S. Special Forces

On September 12, President Rodrigo Duterte calls for the withdrawal of the remaining U.S. Special forces on the southern islands of the Philippines advising that their presence could give the Abu Sayyaf group a valuable target.

The notorious group who are responsible for bombing, kidnapping, killing, and beheading locals and foreigners estimately have 300 fighters. According to Duterte, the continued presence of U.S. troops in the country could inflamed the erratic tension of government's military campaign against ABG.

"They have to go," Duterte said. "I don't want a rift with America. But they have to go."
"American, they will really kill them, they will try to kidnap them to get ransom," he added.

The U.S. officials in Washington said they haven't receive any official words from Duterte administration and consider this news as another bust up-like statement of the president after his tempered speech last week to Obama. Some U.S. officials sound like considering this act as a result of poor casting of votes in the Philippines that should not be followed by the Americans in the coming election, just like what the White House Spokesman Josh Earnest said during brief interview in a regular news.

"I think it’s an indication of how important elections are," Earnest said. "Elections have consequences. Elections do say a lot about what kind of person is going to represent your country on the international stage. And it’s why you are going to prize qualities like decorum and temperament and judgment in casting votes in elections, because you know that person is going to represent you on the international stage. That’s certainly something that the Filipino people are well aware of," Earnest added.

For Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross, Pentagon Spokesman, called the U.S.-Philippines relationship "one of our most enduring and important relationships in the Asia-Pacific region. "It has been a cornerstone of stability for over 70 years,” Cmdr. Ross. “It is built on shared sacrifices for democracy and human rights and strong people-to-people and societal ties,” the commander added.

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