Philippines Security Signals Regional Shift
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Sunday his intentions to extend efforts to end the “drug menace” sweeping the Philippines by another six months. The country’s war against drug traffickers and the narcotics trade is part of a promise that helped Duterte win the presidency in a landslide this past May. Early last week, Duterte also demanded the removal of all U.S. troops stationed in the country, warning that their continued presence would prolong and heighten current conflicts with Islamic separatists.
These developments are the latest in a series of ratcheting tensions between the two nations, which have traded diplomatic blows over U.S. opposition to Duterte’s “War on Drugs.” Since its inception in June, Duterte’s anti-drug campaign has claimed the lives of over 3,000 people, many of whom were killed extrajudicially. Earlier in September, President Obama cancelled a planned meeting with Duterte at an ASEAN summit in Laos after Duterte called the former a “son of a bitch” due to U.S. probing of his present and previous human rights record.
However, U.S.-Philippines relations have previously been on friendlier terms, with former president Benigno Aquino III declaring the U.S. “a key ally, a strategic partner, and a reliable friend.” In 2014, the two nations also signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Act, an agreement which allows the U.S. to build and operate non-permanent bases on Philippines soil and which the Washington Post called the “most significant defense agreement we have concluded with the Philippines in decades.” Nonetheless, there remains animosity between the two countries, a product of U.S. colonial rule between 1898-1946. During this period, a violent “pacification” campaign under President McKinley killed over 200,000 citizens of the Philippines. Earlier this year, Duterte cited the colonial history of the United States as a reason to be wary of pursuing strong relations between the two countries.
Duterte’s actions can be seen as part of a larger domestic initiative towards peace in the Philippines. This summer, the government resumed talks with the 12,000-strong Moro-Islamic Liberation Front and declared a ceasefire with the 60,000 member communist guerilla movement known as the New People’s Army. The two groups have been embroiled in conflicts that have taken the lives of an estimated 200,000 Filipino citizens over the past several decades.
The developments come at an increasingly critical juncture for the the region at large. After years of disputes over the South China Sea, including a military standoff in 2012 and a disputed UN tribunal ruling in favor of the Philippines this July, Philippine foreign policy appears to be undergoing a realignment. Richard Heydarian of De LaSalle University argues that the changes are a result of Duterte’s policies, which aim to “de-escalate maritime tensions with China” and distance the country from the highly pro-American policies of Duterte’s predecessor. Though Duterte describes the policy changes as independent foreign policy free of foreign imperialist pressures, the Philippines’ arms deals and bilateral negotiations with China may hint otherwise. Whether the Philippines will succeed in securing greater peace through these policy shifts, only time will tell.