“Time to say goodbye.”
Thus said President Rodrigo Duterte during his visit to China apparently addressing the United States as the firebrand leader reconfigures the country’s diplomatic ties.
During his four-day trip to mainland China, Duterte is expected to ink deals with the Chinese government among them is the proposed train system that will link the Clark Freeport Zone to the Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City.
Residents in Central Luzon particularly businessmen have welcomed the proposed Clark-Subic train system but said the Clark-Manila railway system is most preferred to speed up development of the Clark International Airport in Pampanga province, north of Manila.
The Philippines had gained little from its long alliance with the US, according to Duterte.
“Your (US) stay in my country was for your own benefit. So time to say goodbye, my friend,” said Duterte. “I will not go to America anymore. I will just be insulted there.”
Duterte once again referred to US President Barack Obama as a “son of a whore.”
Duterte said the Philippines’ foreign policy is dictated by a Western agenda. “What kept us from China was not our own making. I will charter a new course.”
Duterte has repeatedly denounced the United States for criticising the deadly war on illegal drugs.
Under the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippines took Beijing to an international tribunal in The Hague over its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines infuriating the Chinese government which refuses to honor the international court’s decision.
Earlier, Akbayan partylist Rep. Tom Villarin warned the Duterte administration from “selling out” the Philippine sovereignty in exchange for promises of investments.
Villarin said Duterte should focus on asserting the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the West Philippine Sea.