Phl's relations with US, China must be distinct - Sara

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday night maintained that the Philippine relationship with the United States and China should be two separate engagements amid criticisms over her recent statement that the Philippines should "stay in the middle" of the two countries in power struggle.

- BELLA CARIASO, Jose Rodel Clapano, Louise Maureen Simeon

"For the Philippines, we — our Constitution clearly states that we should have an independent foreign policy. So, our relationship with the US and our relationship with China should be two separate engagements and we should not lean towards the US for our problems with China, particularly our issues in the West Philippine Sea," Duterte said in an interview with Russia Today.

ML party-list representative-elect Leila de Lima said Duterte's criticisms of the administration's policy in the West Philippine Sea constituted a betrayal of public trust.