Whatever happened to Duterte’s bravado?
Richard Heydarian’s column (“Whitsun Reef: Duterte’s failed policy,” 4/20/21) was spot-on in pointing out the sheer folly and stupidity of President Duterte’s attitude and policy toward China: Be “meek and humble” to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and expect “mercy” from that bully. Whatever happened to Mr. Duterte’s much-vaunted bravado in dealing with hoodlums in his former turf as city mayor?
Kulang na lang lumuhod itong presidente natin sa harap ni President Xi. Or, hasn’t he done that already during his numerous state visits to China? Is this really a commander in chief our armed forces are proud of? Is this a president that the more than 16 million Filipinos who voted for him are proud of? Is this the head of state that responders in numerous surveys gave a 90-plus percent approval rating for his “performance”—highlighted by his surrender of our patrimony in the West Philippine Sea to China?
So he cares for the Filipinos so much he has been willing to sacrifice whatever is left of his dubious pride and do China’s every bidding just to avoid war that will surely get us “massacred,” wiped out in a flash. In his little mind, submission to China is the only way for us to survive as a nation—or if need be, to become a province of China. Neighboring leaders in Southeast Asia who have remained steadfast against China in the South China Sea no matter the cost must be shaking their heads in embarrassment.
Mr. Duterte sees America as just another bullying superpower. For goodness’ sake, and for practical purposes, why can’t he side, as 99 percent of the Filipinos do, with a bully that’s not “eating our lunch”? No one can explain why he hates America so much except for some personal grudge he seems to have been harboring since his college days, when he was supposedly denied a visa to visit his girlfriend in the United States. I shudder to think that such might really be the case. Good Lord, what price all Filipinos have to pay for that heartbreak!
MARIUS V. CANONOY
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