The Rocky Philippine Relations

In the already more than 3 months and counting, the alliances of the west and the Philippines, being a major non-NATO ally of the US in the Southeast Asia, is somewhat getting blurry, unclear and uncertain as the President Duterte expresses his thoughts in an unnecessary rhetorical manner in which it can put alliances at risk. 

Considering these things, the United States still expresses rock-solid affirmation that they are with the Filipinos especially on the ongoing disputes against the Chinese.

THE DESTRUCTIVE RHETORICS

Source: Asian Journal

In the light of the internal policies that may have dealt with drugs, the President criticized the US, EU, UN and several others for intervening for what may have called the localized “bloody” war on drugs. These rhetorical statements really indeed put the alliance in first doubt. Then, there are demands that the US forces to get removed from the Philippines starting from Mindanao, nullifying alliance agreements, stopping joint military exercises and joint patrols and most of all, rejecting aid in the pursuance of an independent foreign policy. Not to mention the numerous under the belt curses against the US president, the UN secretary general, the EU secretariat, and so on. But despite all that, these nations still insist that the alliances there is with the Philippines is indeed rock-solid that in which it will recovered as time passes by, as what most people have hoping for.

LEANING TO THE EAST

Aside from the rhetorical speeches, it is also no doubt that the President is appeasing the east where in particular, it is China and Russia. In geopolitical matters, this is something that will change the order of influence in the said area in which whose have the control over the said area could mean the control of the whole region that can affect the way things move globally.

President Duterte is set to go to China together with several investors to mark some sort of a deal in which the Chinese will help to improve the Philippines. And with that includes various weaponries that upon pronouncement should be considering Russian and Chinese-made weapons that are incompatible to the American-standard equipments Armed Forces of the Philippines. With these options, it can be said that the Philippines have a chance to have some hands-on with the weapons the east obtain and thus, will increase more sources for the military and its weapons choices to choose from. However, with the Armed Forces leaning to the NATO-standard equipment and the expertise pertaining to it, it will be difficult for them for at least obtaining them for a start despite the affordability of these set of weaponries considering the cost of maintaining them as well as the logistical issues with regards to the spare parts and some other tools necessary to keep the weapons fully functional.

Now with the US-Russian relations getting worse than the Cold War years, the Chinese and Russians teaming up and the spark of a full-scale conflict just hiding in the plain sight, the role of the Philippines in this matter are so significant that being non-aligned didn’t help to have itself to stay out of an imminent conflict as possible, contrary to what the President expresses. Whether he likes it or not, this beloved nation will one day get involved in a large conflict if diplomatic measures will come down into the abyss, somewhat that all agrees that it must not happen.

THE IMPLICATIONS

The implications with regards to this matter are deemed overwhelming where the change, as what they said, is drastic in the sense that the blurry relations are getting much opaque as time passes by. Considering the points given above, it is only ascertain through time as to the directions the relations will go. In these cases, there is only one thing that is very certain with regards to the matter. That is, the Philippines are doing it in its sense of the best sake of its own policy.

Share: