Daily Times

Who is this guy Rodrigo Duterte who promised to call President Barack Obama the “son of a whore” to his face? Well, he did say it but not to Obama’s face because he didn’t get the opportunity. Duterte is the new president of the Philippines, recently elected with a comfortable majority. And he won kudos with his people promising to eradicate the country’s druggies, both the addicts and the pushers, and to do it in his own rough and ready way that he practised so successfully as mayor of the city of Davao. His record in that city was his main qualification, which got him elected as president. And his method is a mix of vigilante justice and police killings of those in the business of using and promoting hard drugs. He doesn’t believe in any due process of law. The police and the vigilantes have lists of suspects and, unless they surrender before hand and then sent to overcrowded jails, they are simply disposed of. So far, in the short period he has been the country’s president, quite a few thousands have been summarily killed and their number is rising.

How does Obama come into the picture here? Duterte’s brand of justice has come in for criticism for violation of human rights. Obama was expected to raise this issue with Duterte during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the recent Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting and East Asian summit. Duterte was seeking to preempt it by loudly announcing how he would respond to the anticipated criticism by calling Obama the “son of a whore” because he had no business lecturing Duterte who is the elected president of a sovereign nation. And, for added effect, he said that the Philippines had ceased to be the US colony for a long time. The Philippines was US colony from 1898 to 1946, apart from a brief period of Japanese occupation. Obama cancelled the planned bilateral meeting, describing Duterte as a colourful guy. Duterte reportedly claimed, “I purposely did not attend the bilateral talks with the president of the United States [as]… you cannot just [lecture] a president of a sovereign state. That is why I swore against him.”

Where is this leading? One can see that Duterte is as rough a character as they come. But that is not how he sees it. He sees himself as authentic as they come, representing the rustic and straightforward virtues of the common man and saying it as it should be said. And he is reinforced in his authenticity as he reportedly has the support of 90 percent of the people of his country. They find in him a man of action, and going by his record as mayor of Davao, likely to clean up his country from the scourge of drugs and corruption. He has no patience and tolerance for criticism, internally and externally, of his methods. Faced with criticism from the UN human rights agencies, he has threatened to quit the UN. And he has countered the European Union criticism by reportedly telling them to “f*** you.”

Duterte has also likened his promised slaughter of three million addicts in his country to Hitler’s killing of Jews. He has told foreign investors, uncomfortable with his ways and obscene language, to “Leave his country. Then we can start on our own. I can go to China. I can go to Russia. I have to talk to them. They are waiting for me, so what the hell.”

Duterte is the sort of character who must take his fight to the end, as he sees it. This might mean reviewing the Philippines’ relationship with the US. The first salvo in this was to declare that some of the US troops based in Mindanao in southern Philippines “have to go…there are too many whites there.” Some US special forces have been involved in operations against long persisting Muslim insurgency in that region, which also doubles up as a crime syndicate of sorts, including kidnapping foreigners for ransom and drug running. The order is said to reflect “new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy.” Duterte seems to believe that US presence only accentuates the problem. He reportedly has claimed some Muslim ancestry. This ancestry claim and ordering US troops out of Mindanao might be his way of reaching out to Muslim insurgents.

Interestingly, Duerte regime didn’t appear to show any enthusiasm for the findings of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague against China on the sovereignty issue over the South China Sea Islands. It was Manila that had taken the issue to the Court seeking its arbitration on China’s construction of military structures on Mischief Reef that the Philippines claim. Indeed, it is keen not to upset Beijing by becoming part of the US’ freedom of navigation patrols through the Chinese claimed waters. Duterte has also announced that after the upcoming military exercises between the US and the Philippines his country would be withdrawing from this periodic routine. He reportedly said, “I am serving notice now to the Americans, this would be the last military exercise …”.

All this would suggest that Manila, under the Philippines’s new political order, might reevaluate its relations with China. This would involve considerable softening, if not withdrawal, from its long and close security relations with the United States. Their security ties had been further reinforced recently against the backdrop of disputed sovereignty claims over some islands in the South China Sea. The case brought out by the Philippines against China in The Hague court was a test case of sorts over the South China Sea islands sovereignty issue. With the US finding hard to rally a regional united front against China over the sovereignty question, Manila’s defection might be a major setback.

It might not be as simple as that, though, because any political advance in the matter would require concessions from Beijing to accommodate the Philippines’s position regarding its own sovereignty claim. It has been a highly charged national issue in the Philippines. China might find it hard to dilute its sovereignty position for fear of opening up the whole issue that also involves other regional claimants.

As for the Philippines, any appearance of surrender of its sovereignty would have national repercussions in that country, as it has been a highly charged issue. But China might seek to buy off Manila with offers of increased trade and investment in industry and infrastructure. The US is, therefore, on notice by the Philippines’ new mercurial president to upend regional politics and security. However, he will not be an easy customer for China to deal, going by his tendency to say outrageous things.

The writer is a senior journalist and academic based in Sydney, Australia. He can be reached at sushilpseth@yahoo.com.au