Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said Thursday the Philippines still regards the US a trusted ally but will not accept lectures on human rights as a condition for receiving American help.
"We cannot forever be the little brown brothers of America... We have to develop, we have to grow and become the big brother of our own people," he said.
"You (have to) manage it correctly. You do not go to the Philippines and say 'I am going to give you something, I am going to help you grow, but this is the check lost you must comply with -- we will lecture you on human rights'."
Yasay said the Philippine government would never condone unlawful killings. He said the Philippines shared the US goal for full respect of human rights. He said Filipinos had fully understood about the sanctity of human life since before it was a US colony and that was at the core of its struggle for independence.
He also said that the Philippines is committed to a defense cooperation agreement signed by the previous government that will give the US access to five Philippine military bases.
And while Duterte had taken steps to repair relations with China, Yasay also said Manila will only discuss their territorial dispute in the South China Sea with Beijing tribunal found in Manila's favor and invalidated the legal basis of China's expansive claims.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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