And to think that the Philippines were a U.S. territory for almost 50 years and, after independence, an ally. The nation is having its “Cuba” moment under Duterte.
And to think of all the Americans that died for the Philippines, fighting to rid them of their Japanese overlords. My dad was there, at Leyte Gulf, he lived through it. Duerte is too far removed from WW2, to have any appreciation for what America did for his country. He sides now with America’s communist enemy, China.
Seems Duterte’s solo. He didn’t even discuss it with his government.
He was capable enough to be a major of a ~1 million city handling municipal issues and got strangely popular with his anti-drugs death squads, but seems woefully inadequate for ruling a 100+ million nation in complex geopolitical environment.