Needing big-ticket investments, Rodrigo Duterte turned to China. The Philippines is still waiting
China could play a key role in aiding the Philippines’ struggle to build a modern infrastructure, but there are doubts about its commitment
At the heart of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign policy is the pursuit of a golden age of bilateral relations with China. What drives this strategic impulse is the fervent hope to usher in a new era of economic partnership with Asia’s biggest economy.
Duterte views his country’s traditional alliances, particularly with America, as passé and increasingly irrelevant to the Philippines’ contemporary developmental needs.
Almost two years into Duterte’s presidency, however, big-ticket Chinese investments are yet to take off, and concerns still linger over the quality and sustainability of prospective Chinese investments in the Southeast Asian country.
Nonetheless, China could play a critical role in easing the Philippines’ decades-long struggle with building a modern infrastructure.
Though featured among the world’s fastest-growing economies, the country is in desperate need of spending on crucial facilities. In the World Economic Forum’s latest competitiveness report, the Philippines ranked 97th in the world in terms of infrastructure.