President Duterte is open to holding joint military drills with China as the administration seeks closer ties with Beijing despite conflicting maritime claims in the South China Sea. Duterte’s statement came a week before the start of joint exercises between the Philippines and the US, which have been scaled down after the President rejected the holding of war games with American troops. The Balikatan exercises from May 8 to 16 would focus on humanitarian drills, officials said.

Romero, A., Regalado, E., & Brago, P. (2017, May 2). Rody open to military exercises with China in Sulu Sea. Philippine Star, pp. 1, 17.