Opinion | Twilight of Duterte presidency might also mean last days of Philippines’ long entanglement with the US
- US human rights sanctions against leader’s inner circle far outweigh affinity between the straight-talking populists in Manila and Washington
- Driven by domestic politics to boycott the US, Duterte may spend his last years in office moving closer to China
Reflecting on the “art of life”, the British essayist Edward Verrall Lucas once observed that “there is no diplomacy like candour”, since “nothing is so boring as having to keep up a deception.”
Critical of the human rights situation in the Philippines, other Western powers are likely to follow the US and impose sanctions on President Rodrigo Duterte’s inner circle. The greatest beneficiary of this diplomatic meltdown is China – Duterte’s de facto strategic patron.
For the past two years, there were great hopes that Duterte and US President Donald Trump would strike a bargain which would preserve the fundamentals of the alliance.
In exchange for toning down its criticism of the Philippines’ scorched-earth war on drugs, the Trump administration would secure greater strategic cooperation with Manila.