- Title: Kerry speaks to Philippines counterpart after separation comment by Duterte
- Date: 24th October 2016
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 24, 2016) (STATE TV) STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN JOHN KIRBY WALKING TO PODIUM JOURNALISTS LOOKING ON JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN JOHN KIRBY SAYING: "I think the tone and tenor of the discussions that they had and the assurances that the Philippines side gave to their commitment to keeping the relationship going was enough to leave the secretary and the assistant secretary to believe that we were going to be able to work through this. But make no mistakes. Make no mistake that both the Assistant Secretary and Secretary Kerry made it clear that we're concerned about this, about the rhetoric. That it is causing confusion and consternation and that we did not find it necessarily helpful to the relationship we are at large." JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN JOHN KIRBY SAYING: "We've seen nothing on their side that would tell us that other than the comments we see no practical application of the comments that would tell us that the Philippine government is moving away from that right now. But we're going to stay in close touch obviously going forward." JOURNALISTS LOOKING ON
- Embargoed: 8th November 2016 19:45
- Keywords: Kerry Duterte Philippines relations State Department Kirby
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C, UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00155D8R47
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to his Philippines counterpart over the weekend, emphasizing strong and stable ties between the allies after comments by the Philippines president raised questions about bilateral relations, the State Department said on Monday (October 24).
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry expressed concern about the tone of remarks by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has sharply criticized President Barack Obama and talked about a separation from the United States.
"Make no mistake that both the assistant secretary and Secretary Kerry made it clear that we're concerned about this, about the rhetoric. That it is causing confusion and consternation and that we did not find it necessarily helpful to the relationship we are at large."
Kirby said the phone call on Sunday (October 23) led Kerry to feel the United States and the Philippines "can work through this."
"We've seen nothing on their side that would tell us that other than the comments we see no practical application of the comments that would tell us that the Philippine government is moving away from that right now. But we're going to stay in close touch obviously going forward," he added. - Copyright Holder: STATE DEPARTMENT TV
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
