Ambassador says US not building arms depot in Philippines

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2016 file photo, new U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim addresses the media shortly upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines, to succeed his predecessor Philip Goldberg. The United States is not building any weapons depot anywhere in the Philippines, Kim said Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, denying the basis on which President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to abrogate a 2014 defense pact that allows U.S. forces to temporarily base in local camps. The U.S. ambassador said that nothing is being planned now that even closely resembles a weapons depot. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File) (The Associated Press)

MANILA, Philippines – The U.S. ambassador says the United States is not building any weapons depot anywhere in the Philippines, reacting to President Rodrigo Duterte's threat to abrogate a 2014 defense pact that allows U.S. forces to temporarily station in designated Philippine camps if depots were built in them.

Ambassador Sung Kim said Tuesday "perhaps some misinformation" was given to Duterte that made him express concern.

Duterte on Sunday identified three areas where U.S. forces were supposedly bringing in armaments, including the western Philippine province of Palawan, which faces the disputed South China Sea.

He said he would not allow the Americans to store weapons in local camps under the two countries' defense pact because the Philippines may get entangled if fighting erupts between China and the U.S.