No other head of state in recent memory has shown so much resolve and political will in saying no to the United States of America but the Philippines’ charismatic President and fake news propelled Rodrigo Duterte. He even outclassed Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s fluffy leader.

After a short period of uncertainty characterized by different statements among his cabinet, Duterte made true of his threat to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.

Publicly of course, the decision of Duterte was rather personal after the United States government pissed him big-time for cancelling the US visa of Senator Bato de la Rosa, the chief architect of the deadly Oplan Tokhang that killed several thousands of Filipinos suspected of involvement in the illegal drug trade and perhaps of several other government officials.

The administration’s apologists left with no choice polished the act of Duterte by telling everyone that what the President only wanted is for the US to respect the sovereignty of the country. They argue, that by cancelling the US visas of Filipino government officials the Americans suspect of involvement in the mass murder of suspected felons and drug addicts, the United States is interfering with the local affairs of the nation. 

Even so, the threat made by Duterte and making true of his threat is laudable. It is courage and political independence per se.

Unfortunately, the premises by which he based the courageous act are not just suspicious but stupid. 

Digong as he fondly called, abrogated an agreement between two nations simply because the US visa of De la Rosa was cancelled and whose value was merely the main man behind the killings of thousands of Filipinos suspected of insurgency, activism, opposition and illegal drug trade involvement.

As it is, the US should not attempt to influence a national policy as it is encroaching into the sovereignty of the nation. It is hard to imagine though how the cancellation of a visa which is a sovereign right of the issuing country became an encroachment into the the independence of the receiving citizen’s nation.

The communist China literally invaded the West Philippines Sea and coerced the Filipino fisherfolks fishing in their own waters by hitting them with water cannons. Such is a clear violation of the country’s sovereignty and yet Duterte with open arms welcomed China and told his countrymen to back down as the Chinese are friends and they are never a threat. 

Short of licking the ass of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines bended and was quite when his own officials discovered that the operators of shabu laboratories in the country are Chinese, the POGO industry hires undocumented Chinese and failed to remit close to P50 billion pesos in taxes in a quarter, and even hesitated to close the country from the Chinese tourists when the COVID-19 first came into being saying that it will hurt the relationship of the country and China. 

Duterte was a hungry lion when he courageously cancelled the VFA with the US who dispatches immediate help to the country in times of trouble but a mere meek lamb with China whose promise of financial help to his Build, Build, Build legacy program has not yet arrived until this time and instead has only brought all the headaches in the country, specifically illegal drugs.

One can only ask, to whose interest is the courage of Rodrigo Duterte?