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QUOTE FROM A VERY RELIABLE SOURCE
“Duterte is a flat out sociopath with likely narcissistic personality disorder. He is an incredibly dangerous and unstable man.”
This really comes as no surprise to those who know the President of the Philippines and former Mayor of Davao well. Nor should it be disputed by those in the Philippines and beyond who only observe his demeanor and persona.
I can only tell you that it comes from one with first hand knowledge and the qualifications to make such an assessment. Our purpose here is to update our previous report on the deteriorating relationship between the United States and one of our oldest and steadiest allies in Southeast Asia.
THE PROBLEM IN A NUTSHELL
President Duterte has notified the United States that he is unilaterally terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement between our two nations. I’m not going to delve into the severe ramifications of that precipitous act because my audience here is those in the Philippines and the United States, along with our mutual adversaries, who fully comprehend the seriousness of this dramatic change of course by the man in Malacañang Palace. The implications of terminating VFA are far reaching and long term which must be dealt with at the highest governmental levels in all nations involved.
The urgency is acute as this Philippine President, unlike every Pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas before him, and contrary to the advice of most of his civilian and military advisors intends not only to forsake the long standing relationship with the United States, but to rush headlong into the waiting arms of Russia, which is eager to replace Americans in training Filipino soldiers and sailors.
A more immediate concern affects all United States citizens, including those born in the Philippines, who will now require a visa even for a brief stay for pleasure or business.
OPTIONS FOR THE PHILIPPINES
- Do nothing and let President Duterte complete a 180° turn which will be difficult to reverse when he leaves office.
- Try to use friendly persuasion to convince him of the error of his ways, which has proven to be a total exercise in futility thus far.
- Philippine Congressional and/or Supreme Court intervention.
- Apply the Philippine Constitutional provision for impeachment.
- You decide on the best course of action sooner rather than later.
It is YOUR country.
OPTIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES
- Do nothing and lose our best friends in the Indo-Pacific to foreign adventurism by China and Russia, forsaking the millions of patriotic Filipino-Americans who have no voice in matters impacting them and their families in the Philippines for generations.
- Set our own bitterly destructive partisan politics aside in this crucial election season to work together on both sides of the aisle to intelligently determine the best course forward to deal with a rogue leader of our indispensable ally in Manila.
- Stop interfering in domestic politics in the Philippines [yes, that means YOU, Senators Durbin & Leahy!], no matter how we may disagree with what a sovereign nation does domestically, recognizing and respecting the need for the good people of the Philippines to right their own ship of state.
- Most urgently, President Trump must immediately reach out to his counterpart, President Duterte, to discuss the issues which divide our two countries as no one else’s wise and expert counsel matters to him at this belated stage of the game.
- Ongoing contacts utilizing both diplomatic and defense channels must be stepped up, but ultimately this will not be resolved below the Head of State level.
PLEA FOR ACTION TO STABILIZE THE PHILIPPINES
The United States right now is in no position whatsoever to lecture the world about good governance or domestic harmony. We have just survived a very divisive impeachment and acquittal which everybody in the world knows about. Our good friends in Australia and elsewhere are offering us their advice on how to get our own act together. We deserve the scrutiny and better be able to handle it and learn from it.
That said, I do not in any way speak FOR the United States. Rather as a journalist, I am speaking TO the United States government.
Also, as one whose entire adult life for the last 50 years has been completely intertwined with the Philippines and Filipinos, I speak only with a heart and mind seeking what is best for them, which ultimately they alone can and must determine.
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What you do in your own government is your own choice. But I know that the overwhelming majority of you have a very positive perspective on the value of Fil-Am relations.
What you are less familiar with are the oppressive and tyrannical governments in Beijing and Moscow. They are not your long time friends and allies.
However fickle we Americans have been, and I grant you that we have indeed been collectively self-interested and tone-deaf to the needs of your homeland, the last 122 years has been a unique experience in world history.
After the Spanish-American War in 1898, after occupation for 377 years by a foreign power, you deserved full independence. Dr. Jose Rizal and General Emilio Aguinaldo are rightly revered as your national heroes, though incredibly few of my fellow Americans today, including our own governmental leaders, would recognize their names. That I truly regret.
But America and the Philippines came through not only the colonial era and World War II, but moreover nearly 74 years of your independence as a sovereign nation together as friends and allies, both much better off for this invaluable relationship. Please don’t throw this away now for an unknown quantity in Russia and China, whom I assure you have only their own self interests at stake, most definitely not that of Filipinos and the Philippines.
We have wonderful Chinese-Filipino friends who are very much a full patriotic part of Philippine society and culture. But, General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party do not have the wellbeing of 1.5 billion Chinese citizens in their own country in mind, let alone yours.
You know full well about their hegemony in the West Philippine Sea and their exploitation of your economy in the POGO’s.
So, be forewarned that you will not benefit from replacing your American friends with a hostile regime bent on world domination, of which you are a nearby potential victim.
As for the far off tempter in Russia, Vladimir Putin is accurately known as Mr. KGB. The demise of the Soviet Union and end of communism per se was short-lived.
American President George W. Bush who once invited him to his ranch in Texas and thought he had found a soul mate, later had to admit: “‘Putin changed’ since I looked into his eyes and saw his soul.”
Unlimited and unrestrained power goes to any man’s head and is more than any mortal can handle.
Whatever your reasons for electing Rodrigo Duterte four years ago, you need to ask yourselves if what you thought you were getting is what you actually have now.
There is a reason he seeks to align himself and the Philippines with tyrants in China and Russia. They know how to stroke his ego. But in nations that revere personal freedom and liberty and the rule of law, such as the Philippines and the United States, we have Constitutional constraints that keep our elected officials fully accountable to those they govern.
I was in the Philippines in September 1972 when President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and abolished the Philippine Congress. Don’t let a new leader abrogate EDSA 1986 which restored the voices of the Filipino people to determine your own destiny.
WHAT WILL THE PHILIPPINES DO NOW?
Filipinos must determine this for yourselves. The entire purpose of this article has been to demonstrate to you that the majority of my American countrymen stand with you.
Choose your allies carefully and judiciously. The average age in the Philippines is 25.7 years. Half of your people were born after 1994.
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Your civilian and military leaders are older and have a longer memory of world events. Don’t sacrifice the future of your children and grandchildren for your own myopic political expediency. Hold your rogue leader accountable under your Constitution.
FINAL NOTE TO AMERICANS
The American Public
This has been mostly directed to our Filipino friends, but our own country has no other sovereign nation that shares so much in common values and intertwined destiny for all of our own modern history as the Philippines.
Our own strategic interests in Asia pale in comparison to our need to restore our own role as a world power deserving respect. We cannot demand that anyone follow our lead in world affairs. We must inspire that admiration for our commitment to fairness which China and Russia can never offer.
We must let our own government know we hold them accountable as we ask Filipinos to do likewise in their homeland.
Trump Administration and U.S. Congress
Even if you know nothing of the historical lessons of so-called “Manifest Destiny”, President William McKinley or Admiral George Dewey, you are the stewards of world destiny here in the 21st Century.
You must prove your mettle as the current challenge emanating from Manila is your responsibility. Don’t default to further your own ambitions and career or history will not judge you kindly.
BACK TO THAT OPENING QUOTE
“Duterte is a flat out sociopath with likely narcissistic personality disorder. He is an incredibly dangerous and unstable man.”
Therefore, act accordingly and Constitutionally.
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BOTTOM LINE
I have nothing to gain from this article personally other than helping ensure the wellbeing of two countries I dearly love, my own homeland—the United States of America—and the islands far away in the Philippines that I shall likely not see again except in my mind’s eye until after the Du30 Era.
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