No more joint sea patrols

The Philippines announced yesterday it had officially informed the United States that joint patrols in the South China Sea patrols had been suspended, following orders from President Rodrigo Duterte.

The move is viewed as the first concrete break in defense cooperation after months of increasingly strident comments by the country's new president, reports AP.

"They have been suspended for the time being. They (Washington) know it already," Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters, adding he had relayed the decision to the commander of the US Pacific Command when he was in Hawaii at the start of this month.

Still, Lorenzana indicated he was still not 100 percent sure of Duterte's final plans. "They will not be conducted anymore until we clarify if he (Duterte) means what he says," Lorenzana said.

The longtime allies began planning joint patrols under the previous Philippine government, which had sought to attract a greater US military presence in the region to counter Chinese efforts to take control of the South China Sea, reports AFP.

China claims nearly all of the sea, even waters close to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations, and has in recent years built artificial islands in the disputed areas that are capable of hosting military bases.

Lorenzana said the United States and Philippines had conducted two "passing through" manoeuvres over the section of the sea claimed by Manila this year, but not actual "combat patrols".

Meanwhile, Duterte yesterday dared the United States' CIA spy agency to try and oust him, as he branded Western critics of his deadly crime war "animals" and vowed many more killings.

"You want to oust me? You want to use the CIA? Go ahead," Duterte said in a speech in his southern home town of Davao city, referring to the Central Intelligence Agency, while railing against US President Barack Obama and other critics.

Last month Duterte accused the CIA of plotting to kill him, but gave no specifics.