Philippines "can live" without U.S. military aid: defense chief

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Friday that his country can get by without U.S. military aid. 


Lorenzana made the remarks at a foreign correspondents' forum where he also called for reassessing relations between the Philippines and the United States.
"Our congress is actually giving us money now for the procurement of our equipment. I believe that they will be giving us more if we have no more source of other funds," he said, pointing out that "we can live without those (U.S. military) aids."
The Philippine defense secretary also noted that he agrees on what President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly said about the fact that the U.S. has failed the Philippines.
He called for reassessing the relations between the Philippines and the United States, saying the two countries are "just going through bumps on the road."
"It's time maybe to reassess our relationship. We take it for granted. The other side also takes our relationship for granted, and maybe we should reassess: Are we benefiting? Are we getting what we should be getting from the alliance or the Americans as well," he said.
Lorenzana said he favors review of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) which Manila and Washington signed in 2014.
U.S. and Philippine defense and military officials are to meet later this month to thresh out issues concerning military-to-military ties between the two nations. Lorenzana said the EDCA might be discussed at the meeting.