FRANCISCO S. TATAD
FRANCISCO S. TATAD

SINCE July 1, 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte has pursued what he calls an “independent foreign policy.” This appears consistent with the provision of the 1987 Constitution, but until he came to power, no Filipino President has ever defined it in its peculiar terms. During the better part of the past 20 months, this tended to consist of a needlessly combative attitude towards the United States, the Philippines’ oldest ally, and an even more needless fawning upon China, the rising Asia Pacific power. DU30 tried not only to wean us away from excessive dependence on the US, which is not a bad thing, but above all to install China as our sovereign lord and master. A fatal disease rather than a cure.

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