President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said the Philippines will remain a responsible member of the international community and will partner with other nations to attain common objectives.
In his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, President Duterte said his government has vigorously pursued an independent foreign policy centered on the promotion and protection of the nation’s core national interests.
“Yet we continue to work with all nations and seek partnerships that work. Because despite differences, it still is an interdependent world where interests and objectives intersect,” he said.
And to the Philippines’s friends in the ASEAN and around the world, he said: “Thank you for supporting my Government, my country and people when it truly mattered. I assure you that the Philippines will remain a responsible member of the international community and we will work with you to achieve our shared objectives.”
The President insisted, however, that gone are the days when the Philippines decides and acts in the shadows of great powers, stressing his government will assert what belongs to it and fight for what is rightfully due to the Filipino people.
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