When words, actions speak loud: Duterte’s honeymoon with China

MANILA, Philippines—“I would say ‘this is ours and do what you want with me’.” This was the declaration of Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, less than a month before he was elected as president of the Philippines. At that time, he said that should China disregard the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which was still pending then, he would ride a jet ski to the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to assert what is “ours”. It came on as a strong statement of patriotism that even then senator Panfilo Lacson expressed belief that it helped turn the tide for […]…

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