MANILA, Philippines — Don’t count on the United States to give arms support to the Philippines, even in its current maritime dispute with China, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile warned President Rodrigo Duterte in his taped briefing that aired Monday night.
Enrile based his warning on dealings with the US government in the 1970s as defense chief of then-President Ferdinand Marcos.
“In truth, in my experience as secretary of national defense in the time of President Marcos, we could not rely on America in an issue like this,” he said in Filipino.
He related how the Philippines, during the height of the Vietnam War, asked the US for 2,500 M-16 rifles to be used for the …
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