Just because US President Barack Obama eventually dismissed President Rodrigo Duterte’s rant over the possibility of him being questioned by other world leaders for the extrajudicial killings in the country doesn’t mean the White House is done with the issue just yet.
In fact, the question of who would become the elected leader of the US in the November elections determines just how frosty or friendly the relations between the US and the Philippines will become in the next few years.
Advisers to President Duterte point to Obama’s lame duck status — him being the outgoing president and all — as the reason why Duterte should not be too concerned over how his scathing remarks would go over Washington’s leadership.
By now, a lot of Filipinos have expressed their admiration for Mr. Duterte’s outspoken defense of his administration’s hardline, even excessive, stance towards drug dealers and drug trafficking as he pointed out the United States’ own problems in dealing with drugs.
The President even reached down and revived some grievances the country, particularly the Bangsamoro people, has with the US as counterpoint and buttress his argument that the US, or any country for that matter, has no business dealing with the country’s internal affairs.
President Duterte’s caustic statements were said to be an extension of his administration’s objective to pursue an independent foreign policy, something the communists have likely prodded him to do as part of their bilateral peace talks.
In fact, the militant partylist groups in Congress, who the military said are communist sympathizers, lost no time in persuading the President to cancel the country’s Visiting Forces Agreement with the US.
But reality hits hard when one realizes that aside from being a major trading partner, the US is also a key ally in the ongoing Spratlys dispute with China that showed no resolution even after a United Nations (UN) ruling that recognized Philippine sovereignty over some of the contested areas.
That’s when the President realized the folly of how he delivered the message, one that sought to assert the country’s independence even when the issue at hand is not about independence but how he dealt with those suspected of selling and using drugs.
While he canceled his meeting with Duterte, Mr. Obama’s remarks about the President being a “colorful guy” doesn’t gloss over the fact that the President could have been more statesmanlike in questioning US and global criticism over his war on illegal drugs.
Then again, even if he doesn’t have Obama’s eloquence or restraint, Mr. Duterte could have said things a little differently and still send a message across to the US and other countries that, yes, his administration is “doing it right.”