Judging from recent events, President Rodrigo Duterte is not just separating from the United States. he has completely broken away from the Philippines’ traditional and longtime ally.
Speaking to foreign ambassadors assigned in Manila, Duterte insulted the US again, calling it “a land of hypocrites” for criticizing his war on drugs even as the same battle rages in major US cities.
The foul-mouthed Philippine president, in total disregard of diplomatic protocol, ranted against the US for withholding millennium funds meant for the country’s anti-drug campaign. The US reason for not releasing the funds was its concern that Duterte’s narcotics war was not observing due process. Aside from the US, the United Nations has also expressed the same concern over the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects.
The new US ambassador, Sung Kim, who was among the ambassadors present at the Malacanang event, simply smiled to disguise his discomfiture at the Philippine president’s acerbic words. The US envoy’s smile could also convey his amusement at a head of state making a fool of himself.
Following this diplomatic incident, US Assistant Secretary of State for Asian Affairs, Daniel Russell, did not make a courtesy call on the President. A visiting US official like Russell who is Washington’s top diplomat for Asian affairs normally would have paid a courtesy call on the head of state. The US embassy in Manila said no request for a courtesy call was made. This can be seen as a snub to convey displeasure over Duterte’s constant verbal abuse of the US.
But of course. Why call on Duterte and subject yourself to more insults and indignities? The last US envoy to Manila, Philip Goldberg, was insulted by Duterte even as he was already leaving his post. Diplomatic protocol does not allow a departing ambassador and his successor to be in the same capital.Thus Kim, an American of Korean descent, could not presented his credentials while his predecessor is still in town.
Russell said there was no need to ask President Duterte to explain his remarks against the US—that Duterte already said it all at the Malacañang event in front of all the foreign envoys.
Duterte on another occasion also said he was going to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the United States. These allow Filipino soldiers to carry out war exercises with American troops.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has expressed a dissenting view on the matter, giving rise to speculation all is not well between Malacanang and the military establishment. Many officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines studied in the US military academy West Point and naval school at Annapolis. Others trained at Fort Bragg, home of the Green Beret special forces The soldiers are not saying how they feel about this break from the US. Reprisal and observance of the chain of command are keeping their lips sealed.
Clearly, the Duterte administration is not just drifting away from the US. It has broken away from Washington even as Duterte locks himself in the embrace of China.
This is unsettling for many Filipinos, not only for those who have settled in the US but also for those whose attachment to America is beyond Hollywood and its influence on Filipino psyche and culture.
Who was it who said the Philippines was influenced by 100 years under colonial Spain but more so by 50 years of Hollywood?
Duterte is also seeking an alliance with Russia whose ambassador to Turkey was assassinated three days ago by a lone gunman who shouted “remember the victims of Aleppo!”
Aleppo is the rebel-held Syrian city where thousands of civilians have been killed by bombs of President Bashar al Assad’s regime, which is supported by Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The UN, which also came under fire from Duterte for being useless in the face of human crises, has been unable to stem the tide of human suffering in the five-year Syrian civil war.
Evacuees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan gave rise to the flood of migrants who cross the Mediterranean to Greece and Turkey then trek to Western Europe in search of a better life.
The new wave of migrants now poses a strain on the economies of Germany, France and the United Kingdom and the cohesiveness of the European Union. The UK, which is not receptive to hosting new immigrants, is no longer an EU member after the Brits voted in a referendum to leave the Union.