Duterte urged to push 'friend to all' foreign policy

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte's pivot to an independent foreign policy should mean maintaining friendship with all nations, Sen. Ralph Recto said on Tuesday.

"Our motto should be: 'Friend to all, but subservient to none.' In other words, amity to all, hostility to no one," Recto said in a statement.

This means that the government's foreign policy should not mean that "we dump old friends for new suitors."

"We must continuously engage, not disengage," the senator said.

Recto stressed that the Philippines should maintain its alliance with the big powers for trade and aid.

"We should reel in both, from all nations, but always doing so from our national interest. We should only accept aid without bad strings attached, the ones that will not cause dependency, or massive surrender of sovereignty, or ballooning of debts," Recto said.

Sen. Grace Poe expressed the same sentiments regarding Duterte's pivot to an independent foreign policy.

Poe, one of Duterte's opponents in the presidential race last May, said that the country should "not get rid of the friends we already have."

"We have agreements with other countries like Australia and if China wants to come, they are welcome.... but why are we being lenient on China when they are building structures on our territory and we act hostile to another?" Poe said in an interview with ANC's Headstart.

Recto noted that the Philippines should ensure that the humanitarian assistance and disaster response component of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) will be retained if ever the country's relationship with the United States will change in the future.

"EDCA allows the 'storage and prepositioning of HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response) equipment, supplies and material'. It is to our country's benefit that such an arrangement will continue to be in force," Recto said.

The senator warned that a logistical void in disaster relief will be felt if the Philippine government decides to scrap the EDCA.

"Hindi rin naman maganda na mga Chinese na lang ang papalit sa mga Amerikano. Ang mas maganda meron tayong sariling kakayahan. At lahat ng ating mga kaibigan, handang tumulong," Recto said.

Duterte has been revitalizing the country's relationship with China ever since assuming office in June. The bilateral relationship between the two countries has been marred due to the territorial dispute over the South China Sea.

Beijing said that the Philippines-China ties have improved ever since Duterte's state visit to China last October.

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