MANILA - Filipino and American troops have scheduled another round of joint exercises, even after President Rodrigo Duterte's repeated pronouncements that the war games would be scrapped, the Philippine military said Thursday.

Elite army forces will hold the one-month-long Balance Piston from November in Puerto Princesa and Rizal in Palawan, the country's westernmost island that fronts disputed waters disputed with China, according a Philippine Army statement.

Over a dozen American Special Forces will train with the Philippine Army's Special Operations Command on marksmanship, combat casualty care and human rights, the statement said.

Since assuming power on June 30, Duterte has signaled a shift in the country's alliance to China from the US, as he took Washington to task for wartime abuses and allegedly failing to deliver on its long-standing alliance with Manila.

He has promised to end joint military drills with the US and said he would a review an agreement signed under his predecessor, Benigno Aquino, that would pave the way for more American soldiers in the Philippines.