Inquirernet/ANN

MANILA, Philippines — Visiting US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has reiterated the United States’ support for the Philippines’ fight for control over the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as he witnessed Washington’s donation of military equipment worth $18 million (about P868 million) to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

O’Brien was welcomed to the country by Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and other senior government officials on Monday, more than a week after President Duterte suspended for another six months the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two countries.

US President Donald Trump’s top security adviser led the turnover of “smart bombs” and other weapons system during a ceremony held at the Department of Foreign Affairs main office in Pasay City.

“We stand with the Philippines in protecting your sovereign rights, your offshore resources and all those rights [that] are consistent with international law,” O’Brien said in his speech.

“I just want to say that those resources belong to the children and grandchildren of the people here. They belong to the [Filipino] people,” he said.

“They don’t belong to some other country that just because they may be bigger than the Philippines, they can come take away and convert the resources of the Philippine people. That’s just wrong,” he said.