Defiant Rodrigo Duterte shrugs off Reed Bank incident to defend his China policy in speech
- Philippine president’s state-of-the-nation address was ‘a calibrated defence of one of his most controversial policies’, Richard Heydarian writes
“I will end my term fighting,” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte exclaimed in his fourth state-of-the-nation address, which lasted close to two hours.
It was his most disciplined and sombre speech yet, surprisingly bereft of the characteristically colourful language which animated his previous addresses. There were no cusses and insults against his critics, nor the usual anti-Western tirades.
For the first time, however, the highlight of a Philippine president’s state-of-the-union address was a foreign policy issue, namely his rapprochement with China.
Overall, it was a defiant, yet discursively calibrated, defence of one of his most controversial policies.
On the surface, Duterte had every reason to be confident. Latest surveys show that he is the most popular Philippine leader at this stage of a presidency.
In both leading national surveys, conducted by Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations during the second quarter, Duterte garnered the trust and approval of more than eight out of 10 Filipinos.