This month last year, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cursed at U.S. President Barack Obama and slammed the United States for criticizing his war on drugs.
But yesterday, he sang a completely different tune. Duterte said he “would rather be friendly” now with the U.S. because Americans have “redeemed themselves” and have “helped us [the Philippines] a lot.”
Duterte said this during the 116th Balangiga Encounter Day in Balangiga, Eastern Samar.
On Wednesday, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said U.S. President Donald Trump and Duterte admire each other. “I could feel the enthusiasm,” he told a mostly Filipino-American audience at a town hall event. Earlier in the day, he met with U.S. State Secretary Rex Tillerson and key congressional leaders on Capitol Hill.
The “rollercoaster” is over, he said, echoing Tillerson’s observation that Philippine-U.S. relations are in an “upward vector”.
Last October, during a visit to Beijing, Duterte said that he would cut ties with the U.S., a longtime ally. “I announce my separation from the United States both in military but economics also. America is lost,” he said. “I realigned myself in your ideological flow…there are three of us against the world – China, Philippines, and Russia.”
In July, Duterte described the U.S. as a “lousy” country after a Massachusetts congressman said he would oppose the Philippine president’s still-to-be-determined visit to the White House, on President Donald Trump’s invitation.
Trump is scheduled to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit to be hosted by the Philippines from Nov. 13 — 15. This year also marks ASEAN’s 50th anniversary.
“People behind President Duterte and people behind President Trump are keeping in touch,” Cayetano said.
“Both of them believe they are strong, pragmatic leaders and there are real issues that call for difficult decisions but also effective solutions,” Cayetano said.
“We have communicated our strong desire for President Trump to take an active part in the 50th year of ASEAN and assured him of a very warm welcome in the Philippines,” he added.
Cayetano said he discussed with his counterpart a range of bilateral issues, including the “campaign against drugs, crime, and corruption vis-à-vis human rights and how we can go on with the perception versus the reality.”
They also talked about counter-terrorism, the situation in Asia including the “balance of power and balance of forces,” as well as “what the U.S. has done to help with the (Philippine) military and how we can move forward with that.”
“Americans are very comfortable with doing business with the Philippines,” Cayetano said.
But despite signs that relations are warming up again, the Philippine foreign affairs chief said speed bumps will remain on the road ahead. “Being both sovereign nations with sometimes diverging interests, there will be differences,” he said.
with reports from ABS-CBN News
