It’s not a yes-or-no question.
There are a lot of factors you have to look at when we’re talking about something like Duterte’s foreign policy. From a purely territorial standpoint, what with China creating permanent installations in the WPS, it does look like we’re losing the WPS, and we’re losing the victory we gained with the arbitration case.
You can also say the same with Duterte’s China deals for infrastructure. We don’t have to look far to see what might happen. Sri Lanka ended up losing much more than what they gained in exchange for the Hambantota Port, and if we’re not careful with these projects, we might suffer the same fate. Another issue with these deals is that it doesn’t really generate jobs. Part of the agreement is that China supplies the workers, denying Filipinos of additional jobs.
But we are seeing real benefits. The tricky part about arbitration is that you need a stronger nation to enforce it. Nicaragua is still yet to reap the benefits of winning its international case against the US, and a free Palestine still does not exist as long as Israel refuses to let it. Finding a compromise with China does let us gain real benefits and it does ease up tensions, which, in the long term, are beneficial for us. Foreign policy-wise, by being neutral to both the US and China we are stepping out of outdated Cold War models of “us vs. them” mentality, which does translate to increased investment and development.
Duterte is certainly softening up to China. The casino deal in Boracay is one thing. The motion to remove blacklisted Chinese companies is another thing. There is rhetoric of war with China if we don’t let up, which, while true, is certainly far-fetched. Ultimately, if we are to protect our national interests, we have to rely on the other two co-equal branches of government to balance things out.
So is Duterte selling the Philippines to China? We’ll see. If we’re not careful with our next moves, we’ll see.
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