BACK in 2016, in one of his first official trips abroad, then President Rodrigo Duterte famously made obeisance to the government of Beijing, declaring a 'separation' from the US and in return, bringing home a reported $24 billion in investment pledges. The promise of Chinese funding was a welcome boost to the president's 'Build, Build, Build' infrastructure drive, and was advertised as the ticket to a new golden era of more jobs than the country would know what to do with and riches for everyone.

At the time, supporters of the president hailed the $24 billion windfall — even though it was in the form of noncommittal IOUs — as tangible proof of the wisdom and practicality of the Duterte approach to policy. His few critics, on the other hand, felt that he had set himself and the country up to be made fools of by Beijing, and that if there were any positive gains from his eager adulation of the Xi regime, they would not come anywhere close to adding up to the grand promises.