Duterte’s bluster stands in contrast to Filipinos’ deep ties to US

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, who nurses a longtime grudge against the United States, has declared he wants “a separation” and on Wednesday added that he wants American troops out of his country in two years.

Speaking in Tokyo, Mr Duterte said that he was willing to revoke the 2014 agreement allowing the Pentagon to use five Philippine military bases, a critical component of the Obama administration’s plan to bolster US influence in Asia.

“I want them out,” he said of the US troops in his country.

While his threats have tapped a deep strain of resentment among Filipinos who feel as if they are treated like a second-class ally, the country’s deep cultural, economic and military ties to the US make it unlikely that they will follow him on the path to divorce.

Especially not, as Mr Duterte suggested in Beijing last week, all the way to China.

“Practically every family here has a relative in the US,” said Mr Roilo Golez, who served as national security adviser to former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“They don’t dream of going to China and living there.”

The close relationship between the Philippines and the US, while complicated and at times acrimonious, has existed for more than a century, and the Philippines has been the closest US ally in the region for 70 years.

Mr Duterte’s vow to upend that kinship has frustrated even some of his supporters.

“I voted for him but I’m not sure what he is doing right now,” said a bank executive in Manila, Jess Custodio, 56. “It is baffling to me. It would tear out the heart of many Filipinos to separate.”

The bonds with the US run wide and deep. About four million Filipinos and Filipino-Americans live in the US, and the money they send home to relatives is a mainstay of the Philippine economy.

Another major sector of the economy — call centres, largely serving US companies — employs more than one million Filipinos. Partly because of the high level of English spoken in the Philippines, the industry is one of the fastest-growing segments.

American movies, music, fashion and consumer goods are popular here. In an earlier era, Filipinos working in the US would send “balikbayan boxes” filled with hard-to-get American food and gifts. Now, shopping malls are packed with American-brand clothes, cosmetics, appliances, foods and other products.

More Filipinos hold a favourable view of the US than even Americans do, 92 per cent compared with 82 per cent, according to a 2015 survey by the Pew Research Center.

Whenever the Philippines has been included by Pew in surveys dating back to 1999, more Filipinos have had a favourable view of the US than people in any other country.

That support extends to the military, where there is considerable backing for the partnership with the US, especially the assistance that US forces have provided in combating extremists in the southern Philippines. Many Filipino military officers were trained in the US, and the two nations have staged joint military exercises for decades.

“President Duterte risks creating a lethal combination of adversaries if he moves to truncate the alliance with the United States,” said Mr Ernest Bower, the president of the consulting firm BowerGroupAsia. “He would alienate his military, which wants the help of the US.”

The military has at times played a major role in political affairs and has twice sided with civilian protesters in ousting presidents.

The talk of separation has also caused anxiety among some foreign businesses, which may become more cautious in investing or expanding operations here, said analysts.

Mr Duterte seems aware of the risks. Perhaps out of concern for the need for military support, he has made numerous speeches at military bases around the country since taking office in June.

And after he returned from Beijing last week, he sought to soften his call for separation. He did not mean cutting diplomatic relations, he explained, which would not be feasible.

“Why?” he asked. “Because the Filipinos in the United States will kill me.”

While the tortuous history of the two countries provides enough fodder to nurture both sides of a love-hate relationship, Mr Duterte largely sees a pattern of abuse and exploitation.

His Foreign Minister, Perfecto Yasay, recently said the Philippines must shake off the “invisible chains” of being the Americans’ “little brown brothers”.

Another low point in the relationship resulted from Washington’s support for the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. After his ouster in 1986, the Philippines adopted a new Constitution banning foreign military bases, which led to the eviction of US forces from Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base.

Relations later recovered, and the 2014 agreement allowed the US to maintain a small force on five Philippine military bases. It was that agreement that Mr Duterte threatened to cancel on Wednesday.

His policy shift has put Japan, another important ally of the US in Asia and the Philippines’ largest trading partner, in the delicate position of trying to retain a balance in an increasingly tense region where Japan fears any further tilt towards China.

In a meeting on Wednesday, Mr Duterte and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan discussed the importance of both the alliance between Japan and the US, and the alliance between the Philippines and the US.

If the Philippines is the most US-friendly country in the world, the anti-American view has a strong constituency as well.

“Maybe it’s time to find a new alliance or depend on other countries,” said Mr Rod Rivera, 24, an unemployed kitchen worker in Manila. “The Philippines has been an underdog of the United States.”

Even among the military, there are complaints that the US often provides outdated hardware, second-rate hand-me-downs.

“Mr Duterte has indeed tapped into a deep and atavistic frustration of many Filipinos that the US approach to their country has been paternalistic,” said Mr Bower.

“These feelings are real, and sharpened by the coexisting affinity for US culture, brands and people.”

For all Mr Duterte’s anti-American talk, the US has not received any request to curtail programmes, reduce cooperation, cut aid or sever ties, said the embassy here.

But if Mr Duterte’s goal was to receive more attention from Washington, he has succeeded.

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, a top State Department official, visited Manila this week and met with Mr Yasay.

Afterwards, Mr Russel told reporters that the US fully supported the Philippines having an independent foreign policy and welcomed a reduction in tensions between Manila and Beijing. But he also cautioned that confusion created by Mr Duterte’s comments was “bad for business”.

“The succession of controversial comments, and a real climate of uncertainty about the Philippines’ intentions has created consternation in many countries, not only in mine, and not only among governments,” he said.

“There is growing concern in other communities and the expat Filipino community, in corporate boardrooms as well. That’s not a positive trend.”

Mr Duterte responded true to form on Tuesday, lashing out at the American business community before leaving for Japan. “Go ahead, pack your bags,” he said. “We will sacrifice. We will recover, I assure you.” THE NEW YORK TIMES