Duterte didn't really mean 'separation' from U.S., Philippine officials say

The Philippines will maintain trade and economic ties with the United States and the West, Trade Minister Ramon Lopez said on Friday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from Washington. Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he was paving the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with long-time ally Washington deteriorate. "America has lost now," Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people at a forum in the Great Hall of the Peopl