BREAKING NEWS

Philippines will keep ties with US but will not be subservient

The United States remains the "closest friend" of the Philippines but Manila wants to break away from a "mindset of dependency and subservience" and forge closer ties with other nations, the Philippine foreign minister said on Saturday.

The comments by Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay came two days after President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from Washington, though he went on to strike a more conciliatory tone on Friday.

Yasay said in a Facebook posting that Duterte had "unmistakably" stated that severing ties with Washington was not in the nation's interest.