{"id":221502,"date":"2019-07-04T19:00:27","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T23:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=221502"},"modified":"2019-07-04T19:00:27","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T23:00:27","slug":"us-remains-phs-natural-ally-locsin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/07\/04\/us-remains-phs-natural-ally-locsin\/","title":{"rendered":"US remains PH&#8217;s natural ally: Locsin"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mceTemp\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_216809\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-216809\" style=\"width: 1350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SFA_ASEM7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-216809\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SFA_ASEM7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1350\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SFA_ASEM7.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/SFA_ASEM7-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1350px) 100vw, 1350px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-216809\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Locsin said Washington&#8217;s commitment to maintaining the freedom and independence for itself and the rest of the world, allow its allies, including the Philippines, to freely maneuver with other nations &#8220;to make close friends of an untried disposition; to strike postures of friendliness dangerously boreding on blind trust; and of belligerence but without anxiety. Because someone has their backs.&#8221; (PCOO Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>MANILA<\/strong>&#8212; While some may wish for variety, the United States remains as the Philippines&#8217; &#8220;true friend&#8221; and &#8220;natural ally&#8221;, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A country\u2019s natural ally is always the one that is too far to get into one\u2019s hair, yet with a reach long enough to deliver a strong punch at a common enemy. Two countries fit that bill; one far more than the other and that is the United States,&#8221; Locsin said in his toast remarks during the celebration of the American-Filipino Friendship Day in Makati City.<\/p>\n<p>In extolling Washington, Locsin said the US stands as the greatest power in history as is said to possess a &#8220;marked edge over the combined military power of all other states measured in centuries.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Her wealth is unprecedented and, more importantly, it is real and tangible and not the result of a magical computation,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Locsin said Washington&#8217;s commitment to maintaining the freedom and independence for itself and the rest of the world, allows its allies, including the Philippines, to freely maneuver with other nations &#8220;to make close friends of an untried disposition; to strike postures of friendliness dangerously bordering on blind trust; and of belligerence but without anxiety. Because someone has their backs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Few nations in the world have the wherewithal to protect their freedom and independence by themselves,&#8221; he pointed out.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the sharp differences between the two nations, Locsin highlighted the US and Philippines&#8217; commonality.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We both hate subservience to foreign powers; we cannot imagine living without total freedom in word, in thought, and in deed. &#8216;Live Free or Die&#8217; is our motto,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>While the administration&#8217;s &#8220;independent foreign policy&#8221; was observed as a pivot to Beijing at the expense of Manila&#8217;s longstanding partner, Washington, Locsin clarified that the latter&#8217;s ties with the Philippines endure.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Some of us may wish for variety, but we know and history shows it: there can be only one \u2014 true friendship, like that of our two Presidents. When we refused to vote with an anti-American majority in the UN (United Nations), Nikki Haley said: &#8216;America has many friends in good times, but only true friends in challenging times.&#8217; And so it is,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The United States and the Philippines have been allies for at least 70 years since the former acknowledged the country\u2019s independence and proclaimed its right to self-determination on July 4, 1946<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MANILA&#8212; While some may wish for variety, the United States remains as the Philippines&#8217; &#8220;true friend&#8221; and &#8220;natural ally&#8221;, Foreign &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":216809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-ph","mauthors-joyce-ann-l-rocamora","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221503,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221502\/revisions\/221503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}