Such an independent policy is dealing a heavy blow to those who still view the relationship between the three countries as zero-sumAnd despite the Philippines being the most pro-Trump nation in Pew's spring 37-country survey, confidence in Trump now is lower than it was in then-President Barack Obama in 2015易倍体育emcThe US was believed to be fully behind the scenes when the Philippines, under President Benigno Aquino III, filed the arbitration suit in 2013 against China in a tribunal in The Hague, a case in which China had refused to participateHis tough rhetoric on the US and softened rhetoric on China, especially compared with his predecessor Aquino III, has worried many in the USThe Obama administration had done e易倍体育emcverything it could to internationalize the South China Sea issue and had used the Philippines, a US ally, to advance the American strategyThe negotiations may take days or weeks before a deal is struck between the future governing partners