‘Unrequited Love’: Why Filipinos should hold Duterte accountable for his China pivot

In 'Unrequited Love: Duterte's China Embrace,' Marites Vitug and Camille Elemia chronicle just how enamored Duterte was over China – and how both Filipino citizens and those in government successfully pushed back

MANILA, Philippines – Two years after Rodrigo Duterte exited Malacañang, former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio, the Philippines’ leading legal expert on the West Philippine Sea, is the first to admit that experts and pundits have fallen short of explaining to the public just how badly the former president positioned the country in its maritime and territorial disputes against superpower China. 

“Duterte remained popular, I think, because the Filipino people are not blaming Duterte for the actions of China. They are blaming China. We have not been successful so far in explaining to the people that Duterte is also responsible for that,” said Carpio on Thursday, June 18, in a panel discussion on Marites Vitug and Camille Elemia’s new book, Unrequited Love: Duterte’s China Embrace. 

The book, officially launched on Friday, July 19, chronicles not only Duterte’s “pivot to China,” but the origins of the former Davao mayor’s close ties with China. Journalists Vitug and Elemia’s painstaking research and field work chronicles the many promises China made to Duterte, and the betrayals the Davaoeño president made in the hopes of keeping close ties with Beijing — especially when it came to the Philippines’ rights in the West Philippine Sea.

Carpio, who was joined by Vitug, Elemia, and Senator Risa Hontiveros in the panel, was answering a question from a college student: Given the Filipino public’s negative sentiment towards China and its actions in the West Philippine Sea, why isn’t it translating into “large-scale criticism” towards Duterte? 

“Why do people still like Duterte despite his pro-China policy?” said Vitug. “I don’t think that foreign policy figures in people’s minds when they vote for candidates, maybe a very minor number. That’s why it’s separated from Duterte as a person and foreign policy.” She pointed out that Pulse Asia surveys, through the years, show that foreign policy — issues concerning the West Philippine Sea, to be specific — never rank high among the top concerns of Filipinos. Instead, gut issues such as inflation, hunger, employment, and worker’s pay are consistently top concerns. 

Elemia highlighted the role of the Filipino public — who were not in favor of a pivot to China and do not appreciate its aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea — in keeping popular politicians like Duterte in check. “If we have a solid Filipino electorate or public that is aware of what’s happening, then whatever people in power want to do won’t be transferrable to the public,” she added. 

Hontiveros, who has been a member of the Senate minority since the Duterte administration, sees Filipino sentiment against Chinese actions in the West Philippine Sea as a “unifying issue,” as affirmed by public surveys.

“But, and we feel this especially every time we’re preparing for elections, and especially now, still, the top of mind or heart or stomach issues are economic. So, even on the economic front, we still have to show how Duterte’s misgovernance was responsible for that and how it’s tied in also with the issues of corruption including in POGOs [Philippine offshore gaming operations],” she said. 

Under Duterte and all the way up to the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration, most Filipinos think the Philippine government should assert the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea, or part of the South China Sea that includes the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

Two years after Duterte’s exit from the Palace, the Philippine government’s stance on the West Philippine Sea has changed rather dramatically. From refusing to uphold the 2016 arbitral award, which deemed China’s sweeping claim of the South China Sea invalid, among others, the Philippines refers to it as part of the foundation it stands on in arguing for its sovereign rights in those waters. 

The Marcos administration has also rallied allies and partners abroad — both old and new — to stand behind the Philippines in its efforts to uphold its sovereign rights as well as the rule of law in the West Philippine Sea. 

But Manila, after all, is playing catch-up on the six years that the arbitral ruling languished, left untouched by Duterte because he wanted to keep good ties with Beijing.   

Unrequited Love does not provide a solution to the puzzle of Duterte, and the popularity that he and his ilk continue to enjoy, but it’s part of a bigger attempt to make sure the history books get it right, and that we learn from the actions of leaders past. 

“It’s still a story in progress. Our relations with China, however, is a story that will be with us for generations,” said Vitug. – Rappler.com 

The book is now available via Ateneo Press’ official Shopee or Lazada accounts, as well as through the Ateneo Press Bookshop inside the Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Heights campus.