The Philippines' Foreign Secretary has reiterated Manila's commitment to its alliance with the US. Bilateral relations have been strained by recent remarks by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said some of Duterte's remarks had been taken out of context. Yasay also defended the ongoing crackdown on drugs, and rejected allegations of human rights violations and illegal killings. He said the US should not "lecture" the Philippines on human rights. He also called for the US to stop treating his country as a "little brown brother." That phrase was used by Americans to refer to Filipinos during US' colonial rule in the country in the early 19-hundreds.