The signature of US President Donald Trump to the law that denies US entry to Philippine government officials who are involved in the continued incarceration of Senator Leila Delima and the murder of several Filipinos by extra-judicial means is sending an ominous message to the current administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
To determine what the message is and its end point would be speculative and would not do any justice to the sufferings of the people involved and would only add insult to injury.
However, the signature of a sitting US President to the very drastic proposed action of denying entry (and deporting) those who are identified with the acts in question in the Philippines has provided a clear stamp of affirmation that there are indeed serious miscarriages of justice happening in the country today.
It has alarmingly confirmed the abuses of the Duterte administration especially in using its power to cripple those it perceives to be against its interests and use the military and the police to resolve the legitimate problems of illegal drugs and communism by way of illegitimate means.
Consequently, the fate of several hundreds of thousands of Filipinos and their families in the United States of America especially those who have been very vocal of their support to the extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the armed instruments of the state now heavily depend on how President Rodrigo Duterte will respond and react.
It is a fact that Duterte has manifested so much fondness to China which is now being considered by the US as an enemy of their state and has imposed several trade sanctions recently while publicly subjecting the US to his tirades.
Will Duterte backtrack or make an attack? Either ways, denying entry to Philippine government officials involved in the imprisonment of Delima and the death of several thousands by execution is now a national policy of the US. It could become at the same time a serious precedent to the pending case Duterte is facing at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
