Duterte’s foreign policy off track — Del Rosario

MANILA, Philippines – The Duterte administration’s independent foreign policy is “off track” and will need to be revisited or the Philippines risks losing the confidence of long-time “friends” who had helped in the country’s development, a former top diplomat said.

Commenting for the first time on the matter, former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday the country’s seeming pivot to China at the expense of the US and European Union will not work.

“I’d like to think that the foreign affairs strategy has driven off track a bit,” Del Rosario said in an unscheduled speech.

“We need to revisit the off track direction that is driving the new so-called independent foreign policy,” he said during the closing remarks of a forum hosted by his think tank, the Albert del Rosario Institute for Strategic and International Studies.

Del Rosario, who was once also the country’s ambassador to the US, relayed that he had been asked many times by members of the diplomatic community about the current administration’s friendlier approach to China.

On top of that, he said the foreign affairs corps do not understand why the Philippines is “suddenly distancing itself” from the US, its “treaty ally who has worked specifically on promoting the rule of law.”

It was under Del Rosario when the Philippines sued and won against China before the international arbitration court over its nine-dash line claim in the West Philippine Sea.

However, President Duterte has decided to become more cordial to China, but not without putting Philippines’ relations with the US in jeopardy.

In his latest tirade, Duterte yesterday claimed the US has manipulated the foreign exchange rate to weaken the peso to a seven-year low against the dollar. His budget chief Benjamin Diokno has, however, rebutted this.

“I think this foreign policy of equating US vis-a-vis China should not be a zero-sum game,” Del Rosario said. “In foreign affairs, you try to get as many friends as possible. You don’t get one friend at the expense of another friend. Playing a zero-sum game is illogical and we should get away from this.”

He said the country’s foreign policy is driven by “our democratic ties.”

“It must be principled, it must be independent and it must follow the rule of law.”

Part of that, Del Rosario said, is respect for human rights, which is not only an international norm but also a prerequisite for some of the development aid the Philippines gets from its donors like the US. 

He also questioned whether Duterte has discussed his foreign policy thrust thoroughly to touch on possible economic repercussions of moving away from the US and the EU.

For instance, he cited the $4 billion raised over the last three years as well as the $140 million in US military aid tied to a condition of respect for human rights.

On both the US and EU, Del Rosario cited the general system of preferences, where around $800 million of benefits had been recorded in terms of preferable access to trade.

“We will lose that,” he said.

“I’m saying that has anyone in government sat down to calculate the probable loss of economic benefits if we pursue the foreign policy we are currently pursuing in the name of an independent foreign policy?”

The former foreign affairs chief warned of a possible loss of confidence should the Duterte government pursue its current foreign policy track.

“Confidence has been restored in our country in an immense amount. Let’s not lose it,” he said.