​The President’s speech

PHILIPPINES - In Brief 29 Sep 2020 by Romeo Bernardo

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Last week, critics of President Rodrigo Duterte finally found something to thank him for. In his first address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly since assuming the presidency four years ago, the President asserted the Philippine’s territorial sovereignty over disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea (WPS/SCS). The dispute with regional giant, China, was the subject of an international arbitration case initiated by the previous administration in 2014 but which was awarded to the Philippines only in 2016, a few weeks after President Duterte took office[1]. While the President had over the years avoided openly confronting China on the issue, his UN speech struck a different tone. “We firmly reject attempts to undermine it,” he said of the arbitral award which “is now part of international law, beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon.” The President’s unexpected outright assertion of the Philippine’s rights has been interpreted variously as:There is no change in foreign policy. The President’s spokesperson explained the statement simply thus: “It’s the first time that the President spoke in UN General Assembly. So it’s the first time that the President was able to say what has been his consistent position all along.” Observers note that even China may not give the speech much attention knowing that the Philippines has never really turned its back on the Hague verdict and in fact, the assertion has no real effect on the situation in the WPS/SCS.This is a reversal in foreign policy; the President is pivoting away from China. Per this view, it is about time that the President reversed course on hi...