The United States provided the Philippines with $127 million in security assistance in the 12 months ended in September, the biggest sum in about 15 years, overlapping with a stream of angry threats from President Rodrigo Duterte to sever their defense alliance. The U.S. embassy in Manila on Friday confirmed its longtime Asian ally had received a 154 percent increase in military assistance from the 2014-2015 period, the biggest sum since American forces returned to the Philippines in 2002.