The discovery of an illegal drug laboratory at the foot of Mt. Arayat, Pampanga that is capable of churning out 400 kilos of methamphetamine was a huge accomplishment. It follows the discovery of another drug laboratory in Magalang, which was hidden in a pig farm. These are the kinds of accomplishments that people would rather see.
The two drug laboratories are allegedly owned by Chinese nationals. President Duterte is therefore right in asking why China is not doing anything to rein in its citizens. This was a loaded pronouncement. It was important though that the President raised the issue because since the 1990s, China has been the major source of methamphetamine in the country. Unless this flow of supply is stopped, the problem will persist.
If, on the other hand, the supply chain is broken, it will be a lot easier for us to reduce the drug problem to the barest minimum. In his usual impromptu media interview after his visit, President Duterte talked about how he viewed the country’s drug problem. It has become a crusade for him that if it is the only thing that will occupy his six-year presidency, he is willing to do it.
The Arayat interview was again laced with many expletives and this is getting the business community on edge. For one, there is no other leader in the region that would have the temerity to tell foreign investors to take their money and leave. It was a bold and brave declaration—and the financial market appears to be reacting. The stock market is down and so is the peso. What would really happen if foreign investors take their money out?
Well, my colleague Tony Lopez says not to worry. The country, after all, has become a net exporter of capital. Nonetheless, markets are easily affected not only by sound economics but also by rumors and politics. It is therefore prudent for us not to push the envelope so far in this regard.
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The President also used the Mt. Arayat interview to speak on some of his diplomatic plans. He said that by next year, he will be establishing alliances with China and Russia in order to chart an independent foreign policy. What really does the administration mean by this? Is it like President Obama’s pivot to Asia? Is President Duterte planning to pivot to China and taking the whole Filipino nation along with him? It is not so clear at this time considering that every time the President says something, his top lieutenants clarify his statements. If by alliances he means strengthening trade relations with China and Russia, there is nothing wrong with this and is in fact welcome. We after all have to diversify our foreign trade and not simply rely on trade with the western world.
If alliance, however, means veering away from our defense commitments with the United States because of the belief, rightly or wrongly, that the US is always dictating on us, and that China will be more respectful of our sentiments, then this will be a quantum leap for the country. Since we have never dealt with China the way we have dealt with the US in more than a century, we really do not know the kind of dynamics that will prevail between our two countries.
As for Russia, if we are expecting sizable investments, we must think again. Russia has been in recession since being slapped with sanctions by the European Union and the United States and is hardly in any position to help financially. Arms, yes.
China, on the other hand, has tons of money and would be willing to bank roll many projects like freeways, ports and railroads. But let us not be so naïve that this will not come with a price. Maybe we should learn from some of the countries in Africa that received huge Chinese investments what really is like to be dealing closely with Chinese. Maybe we will be able to learn a thing or two.
Not being a fan of the US, President Duterte has been able to bring out some of the unpalatable consequences of American colonization that has remained under the rug. The Bud dajo battle was not the only one. The massacre in Samar wherein an American general ordered the killing of Filipino males 10 years or older is another. Whether digging these things up and resurrecting them in order to highlight perceived current hypocritical positions of the developed western countries is helpful or not is of course another matter. But it was important for the President to have brought these out.
Another historical issue that the President did not bring out was that during the Second World War, the Philippines, a colony was basically abandoned by the US in favor of a European first policy of defeating Germany first. As a consequence, we experienced three long years of brutal Japanese occupation.
If that is not enough, a United Nations organization based in Geneva just came out with a study that concluded that the US should provide reparations for enslaving African—Americans and promoting institutional racism that has not stopped to this day.
We still do not know where the President will be taking the nation in his quest for an independent foreign policy. It maybe that he is prepared to break with history and cultural affinity in favor of the realities of geography. If it is a choice between China and the US, would Filipinos rather have cousins in Los Angeles and New York or Shanghai and Beijing? What do you prefer?