It’s important to the Americans that the Duterte brand in Philippine politics be destroyed since it advocates for an independent foreign policy. Witness how we have become the outlier in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community.
Among the original founding members, we are only ahead of Cambodia and Laos while Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are enjoying economic progress and cooperating with China, which is ASEAN’s largest trading partner.
Still, the Philippines’ liberal “thought leaders” stick to their guns in echoing the sentiments of their Western patrons. In her recent Rappler piece “‘Unrequited Love’: Why Filipinos should hold Duterte accountable for his China pivot”, Bea Cupin plug-gushes all about her pals’ new book Unrequited Love: Duterte’s China Embrace where its authors Marites Vitug and Camille Elemia “chronicle just how enamored Duterte was over China – and how both Filipino citizens and those in government successfully pushed back”.
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Cupin “reports” on a panel discussion chaired by former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio whom she describes as “the Philippines’ leading legal expert on the West Philippine Sea [a.k.a. South China Sea]”.
“Duterte remained popular, I think, because the Filipino people are not blaming Duterte for the actions of China. They are blaming China. We have not been successful so far in explaining to the people that Duterte is also responsible for that,” said Carpio on Thursday, June 18, in a panel discussion on Marites Vitug and Camille Elemia’s new book, Unrequited Love: Duterte’s China Embrace.
Indeed, we have become the mouthpiece of the “rights based international order” in the region, as the Rappler mob demonstrates above. Trouble is, ASEAN isn’t having any of that because each of its other members’ leaders understand the present geopolitical realities well and are acting in their country’s best interests.
America is laden with debt because of its deficits, arising from its continued hegemony. It can’t keep on spending for wars it keeps losing. But China has bridged the technological gap. It dominates manufacturing globally and has successfully built automated plants producing electric vehicles and tech hardware such as computers and smartphones. It is making inroads in software with Harmony OS. It dominates telecoms technology. It is now the biggest shipbuilder in the world. It’s about to become the largest carmaker as well.
We are the only ASEAN member country hostile to China. Vietnam has territorial disputes with China but engages in active dialogue through diplomacy. The claim that Duterte sold us out is the narrative of our pro-America politicians who support the policy of the Philippines being Uncle Sam’s pawn in the region.
Make no mistake about it, China will not hesitate to defend its interests if the Americans continue with their strategy of using the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Australia as its regional lackeys with the formation of an Indo-Pacific NATO. We have more to lose than anything to gain from the West by continuing in this path.
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the us empire is despicable because of its moronic populace-genocidal and imperialistic that stood for nothing more than materialism and CONsumerism-CON sumption
I’d say that the cockney slang for Yanks, “Seppo”, can also be applied to Filos that emulate and adorate Seppos, given that the Phils is a pretty much a septic tank.
It is truly pathetic that the Phils cannot shake its weak colonial mentality and stop sucking Seppo schlong.
endless american empire propaganda and empty pinoys. they cannot stop adulating and shlonging the usa-ians-who support their genocidal, imperialistic, war mongering, disgusting regime. Look at how they treat their own tax and debt slaves (“citizens”).
As Dr Freud said–usa was a gigantic mistake.
US hired low iq peeps during the Vietnam war. It seemed as they’ve learned from that mistake so now they hire low iq squad from their colonies/simp countries.
I personally liked former President Duterte’s policy of opening to China as a fresh perspective. Not necesarily perfect, yet fresh and well worth exploring.
Having said that, the duality of the US as the “crumbing empire” and China as the “rising empire” is in itself fallacious. China has its own stack of problems, from government-backed mega-corporations snowed under bad debt to plummeting real estate prices (nothing of the sort in the Philippines) and internal consumption, lack of quality jobs. There is also a more hostile stance towards everything and everyone that will not align to China’s “all is good” propaganda.
Of the legendary BBB projects, the ones that have actually made significant progress are onlt those funded by Japan and transnational banks like the Asian Development Bank. In the Philippines, at least, China is having problem even implementing the same business model they had in Malaysia, Thailand, or Sri Lanka: we fund your projects at your expense, we built them with our own workforce and if you can’t pay, all we built becomes yours.
China may well have changed the face of Malaysia, Thailand and other smaller Asian players. At what price, though. Malaysia is virtually bankrupt. Bangkok has become China’s personal Las Vegas while people in rural areas really don’t fare much better than provincial Filipinos.
Perhaps a third way is possible? Maybe some ballsy sovereignty, for a change?
It’s a damn cold night. Western arrogance is very much documented. Chinese arrogance is perpetual and goes beyond 9-dashed lines. No other lover to put up a fight.