Philippines ready to back US if it gets embroiled in war
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine ambassador to Washington says Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is ready to open the country’s “facilities” to American forces under a 1951 mutual defense treaty if Russia’s war against Ukraine turns for the worse and embroils the United States in the fighting. Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said Thursday that Duterte made the assurance when he met him recently in Manila. The Philippines has condemned the invasion and voted yes on a U.N. General Assembly resolution that demanded an immediate halt to Moscow’s attack. Duterte, whose term ends in June, has nurtured closer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Romualdez said Duterte told him that the Russian invasion was wrong.