Don’t go soft on US, Duterte told

Even after the victory of Donald Trump in this month’s US presidential election, President Rodrigo Duterte should remain steadfast in his position to free Philippine economic, political and military affairs from US colonial control.

Even as the names and faces change, the worsening chronic crisis of the rotten US capitalist system (which also aggravates our domestic crisis) will continue. The United States will still impose the unequal economic and military agreements with its colonies to keep its global dominance and to remain a superpower.

Unless the systematic capitalist, oppressive US government is transformed into a genuine democratic one, America will hold on to its usual puppeteer rule.

President Duterte should pursue and promote an independent and patriotic foreign policy to the decades-old colonial chain that keeps the Philippines under US control. This he can do by first abrogating all the unequal military treaties with America—like the Visiting Forces Agreement, Mutual Defense Treaty, and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Imperial rule and exploitation are embedded in the US capitalist undertaking. If President Duterte is already fed up with the United States’ continuing intervention in our foreign and domestic affairs, he should stand firm in his position to separate our country from foreign control,  and pursue a patriotic foreign policy that will promote the genuine independence we all long for.

FERNANDO HICAP, chair, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya-Pilipinas), pamalakayapid@gmail.com