5 facts about Duterte’s foreign policy

As we enter the second year of President Rodrigo Dutetre’s term in office, it behooves us to reflect on his performance so far. In many ways, his first year could be described as a combination of "fast and furious" and "shock and awe," with a lot of "sound and fury" in between. Here are, in my opinion, five key elements of Duterte’s foreign policy performance, so far:

1. Hyperactive Foreign Policy. Within less than a year, the 72-year-old president managed to almost match the record of President Fidel Ramos, who has been largely described as our most foreign policy-oriented leader, in terms of foreign travels. Duterte is well on his way to becoming not only our ‘most traveled president’, but among the most spatially ubiquitous world leaders. In his first year, Duterte visited 17 countries throughout 21 foreign trips, clocking in 77,542 miles in mileage. (Personally, I have clocked in almost a similar amount of business trips in the past year, and must say, it was extremely exhausting. So kudos to the president, who clearly has had a way heavier and more demanding schedule.)
2. Commercial Diplomacy on Steroids. The former provincial mayor has come under criticism for allegedly excessive spending during his foreign trips. Without a question, there should be greater transparency vis-à-vis how our taxpayers’ money is being spent on the president’s foreign trips. Yet, what many tend to miss is the fact that the Duterte administration has managed to secure up to $40 billion in pledges of government-to-government loans and grants as well as business-to-business commercial and investment deals during visits to China, Japan, Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). No Filipino president has ever come even close to matching this record. It goes without saying, however, that the next step is to make sure the pledges are translated into actual, tangible and fruitful investments and that only the most necessary officials are part of the delegation.
3. Still on with Tried and Tested Allies. Initially, Duterte vowed an ‘independent’ foreign policy, which, in his own words, meant that the Philippines “will not be dependent on the United States.” This was followed by bitter and acrimonious disagreements with Western allies, particularly the Barack Obama administration, over human rights issues. The upshot was an unfortunate series of not-so-statesmanlike exchanges with top American officials, the European Union, and the United Nations. A year in, however, the Philippines has maintained robust relations with all our Western partners, including the United States and Australia, which have been assisting our counter-terrorism efforts in Mindanao. As I wrote in a column for the New York Times, the reality is that Duterte doesn’t unilaterally shape our foreign policy, but instead takes into consideration the views of other key sectors, including the military, which prefers maintaining robust ties with our traditional allies. Last month, I had a chance to talk to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as well as top American defense officials. They were all very supportive of the Philippines and seemed more than eager to put aside our prior differences to fight against a common enemy. The Donald Trump administration, in particular, seems to be partly fond of Duterte.
4. Finding new friends. Throughout his first year in office, Duterte visited China twice and became the first Filipino president in recent memory to conduct a state visit to Moscow, where he met Vladimir Putin, who has been considered as the most powerful man on earth. During these crucial and high-profile trips, we managed to signs a series of crucial defense, intelligence-sharing and investment agreements, which have radically transformed our relations with former rivals (China) and neglected potential partners (Russia). China is the world’s second largest economy, while Russia is the world’s second largest exporter of military equipment. Surely, there is much to be gained from normalized relations with these powers. China is already helping the Philippines in the battle of Marawi.
5. Equilateral Balancing Dilemma. Moving forward, the challenge for the Duterte administration is to ensure we maintain robust relations with all major powers depending on what benefits our national interest the most at a specific juncture. In short, we need a dynamic foreign policy, not one based on static ideology or paradigms. Specifically, we need to make sure we aren’t overly dependent on US in counter-terror operations in Mindanao, while also making sure our improved commercial and defense ties with China don’t come at the expense of our territorial and maritime interest in the Benham Rise and the West Philippine Sea. We also have to make sure that our relations with crucial partners such as the European Union (EU), a leading source of development aid and our top exporting partner, is handled with care and finesse. Pursuing an ‘independent’ foreign policy means having maximum room for maneuver, not exchanging one strategic patron for the other.

Prof. Richard Heydarian is GMA resident analyst and author of, among others, “How Capitalism Failed the Arab World” (Zed, London).