Duterte: America’s New ‘Humble Friend’

"I am your humble friend in Southeast Asia," said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when the latter visited Manila on August 7, 2017, for a regional security forum. Duterte met Tillerson in the presidential palace.

Duterte’s statement can be confusing for those who still remember his infamous speech declaring his “separation” from the U.S. during a state visit to China in 2016.

But for those who closely followed Duterte’s foreign policy pronouncements after the victory of U.S. President Donald Trump last November, the Philippine president’s reassuring words of friendship wouldn’t be much of a surprise for them.

After all, as early as January this year, Duterte approved the construction of U.S. military facilities in the Philippines. Last May, he allowed the continuation of the annual military exercise between Filipino and American troops. And when Martial Law was declared on May 23 in Mindanao, Duterte willingly accepted the offer of the U.S. to help in the fight against terrorism, particularly the military campaign to defeat a local armed group with ISIS links.

During Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address on July 24, he mentioned again the atrocities committed by the U.S. military during its invasion of the Philippines in the early 1900s. He also asked the U.S. to return three local church bells which were taken by the U.S. army as war booty.

Duterte’s supporters cited this as proof of the president’s nationalist agenda, but some critics dismissed the speech as a token gesture to mask the government’s failure to stop China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea (known locally as the West Philippine Sea) on one hand, and the continued implementation of unequal military agreements between the Philippines and the U.S. on the other.

Even U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim downplayed Duterte's remarks about the stolen bells and instead highlighted the cooperation "happening on the ground" between the two countries.

"I think it's much more productive for us to focus on what's actually happening on the ground, with initiatives and with programs, and with cooperation and less on some public statements, because I think what's more important is what we actually do together," said the ambassador during a media interview.

Indeed, Duterte’s nationalist rhetoric didn’t prevent the expansion of U.S. military presence in the Philippines. There are also indications that the U.S. is ready to engage in direct anti-terror combat or provide greater military aid to the Duterte government.

The Communist Party, which has earlier acknowledged Duterte’s statement about the historical crimes of the U.S. military in the Philippines, branded him a “pseudo-patriot” for echoing the stand of the Trump government with regard to the nuclear arms program of North Korea. The group also accused Duterte of “making so much noise about the history of U.S. abuses in the country but is silent about current U.S. military interventionism which serves his strongman rule and wars of death and destruction.”

Despite Duterte’s perceived anti-Americanism, he is actually turning into a reliable ally of the U.S. military. In fact, the “humble friend of the U.S. in Southeast Asia” has stopped making any reference to his earlier commitment to pursuing an independent foreign policy.

Duterte’s close ties with the U.S. will be further boosted at the end of the year when Trump arrives in the Philippines for the East Asian summit.