Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the president of the Philippines, is a stark contrast to his predecessor – and besides, Washington has dirt on him
The Philippines has been a treaty ally of the United States since 1951, almost as long as it’s been an
independent country. Before that, it was a colony of the US, which had won it as spoils of war from Spain.
Because of this, it is hard to characterise the Philippines as anything but an unabashedly pro-American nation.
In the past few years however, it took a different line. Under the presidency of the very blunt and frank
Rodrigo Duterte, the archipelago became more geopolitically ambiguous in its foreign affairs, pursuing closer
relationships with Russia and China, while still being cordial to the US.
This unusual “hedging” was part of Duterte’s strategy to adopt a more centralised approach to governing the
country, which suffers from high levels of poverty, crime and disorder. Duterte was a hardliner, and also saw
economic opportunity in getting closer to Beijing, despite highly contentious disputes over the South China Sea.
His relationship with Washington suffered during this period, as it effectively contributed nothing to the
development of the country despite the US post-colonial “overlordship”. Instead, Duterte opted for the Belt and
Road initiative and sought to turbocharge the islands with Chinese investment.
Yet, just a year or so after Duterte’s departure, the return to power of the Marcos family has seen Manilla do
an effective 180° turn in its foreign policy, and go from being pro-Beijing to an effective antagonist of the
country in favour of the US again. Ferdinand Macros Jr, also known as “Bongbong,” is the son of Ferdinand
Marcos, who ruled the Philippines as a right-wing, anti-Communist dictator from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s.
The family was notorious for its corruption and theft of national assets for its own personal gain, but got away
with it precisely because it was unequivocally pro-US. For during the Cold War, Washington would support figures
of any brutality on the condition that they were anti-Communist.
China warns Philippines not to ‘play with fire’
Read more China warns Philippines not to ‘play with fire’
Bongbong, like is father, is not innocent, and was elected president of the Philippines as a compromised man who
is at the mercy of the US. Ironically, he faces prosecution in the US as a court order requires him to pay $353
million to victims of his father’s regime, thus he cannot enter the country. What does this translate to in
political terms? Leverage, on Washington’s behalf. Noticeably, the American authorities do little to enforce the
ruling or seize assets pertaining to Marcos or his family, for diplomatic reasons. What is the quid pro quo
here? It is clear that as long as Bongbong steers the Philippines' foreign policy where the US wants it,
Washington will look the other way when it comes to the court order against him.
And it is absolutely no surprise that on attaining office, Marcos Jr initiated a U-turn on the country’s stance
regarding China, and has dramatically escalated tensions with Beijing. While the Duterte administration sought
to keep matters cool over the South China Sea territorial dispute, Marcos Jr has deliberately antagonised
Beijing, pushing boundaries, and drawing international attention to the situation, provoking the US to say it
will defend the Philippines in the event of conflict. Similarly, dozens of senior US officials have visited the
country as part of a sweeping US charm offensive.
But not only that, he has agreed to increase the number of bases the US can access in the Philippines, has
congratulated Taiwan’s president-elect, actively scaled back Manila's participation in the Belt and Road
initiative by cancelling a number of projects, and has instead sought to court a relationship with Japan as an
alternative to China, with the US, Japan and the Philippines set to have a trilateral leaders’ summit for the
first time. In a nutshell, the Philippines has gone from being a China-friendly state in Southeast Asia to
easily the most antagonistic, a difficult position to take, due to the relative economic weakness of the country
and its trade dependence on China.
For China, this situation is a headache and there are no easy answers. This is because Beijing has a resolute
and uncompromising position on the South China Sea, most of which it claims as its own. The rigidity of this
position not only clashes with Southeast Asian states but creates an easy political wedge for the US to exploit.
China makes itself look weak if it backs down, and US policy of course is to incentivise such countries to
actively resist Beijing and give them the military backing to do so. So how can China mend its relations with
the Philippines? It may simply have to avoid creating a crisis and wait until a more Beijing-friendly president
is voted into office, because quite clearly, Marcos Jr is a compromised politician, with Washington being able
to exploit his weakness and disastrous family legacy to its own advantage.
The mayor of Paris has reiterated her proposal that Russian and Belarusian contestants stay away from this
summer’s Olympic Games in the French capital, despite them being officially allowed to compete as neutrals.
“I want to tell the Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris,” Anne Hidalgo told
Ukrainian athletes at a training center in Kiev on Thursday, while on a visit to Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) initially pushed for a complete ban on competitors from Russia and
Belarus after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. However, last December the IOC ruled that a
limited number of people from the two countries could participate as AINs (individual neutral athletes).”
Hidalgo told Reuters earlier this month that she would prefer for Russian and Belarusian contestants not to come
at all. “We cannot act as if [the Russian military operation in Ukraine] did not exist,” she told Reuters.
When asked about Israel’s Olympic participation – in the context of the Gaza war, raging since the Hamas attack
on October 7 – Hidalgo insisted there was no comparison to be made.
Sanctioning Israeli athletes is “out of the question because Israel is a democracy,” she stated.
Russia has slammed the IOC’s difference in approach to Israeli and Russian contestants. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov has accused the Switzerland-based body of “political activism” and called its approach
self-discrediting.
The maximum numbers of Russian and Belarusian athletes that can qualify for the upcoming games are 55 and 28,
respectively. The IOC has noted that the teams are unlikely to actually meet the quota, with some 36 Russian and
22 Belarusian athletes expected to make it to the games, according to IOC director James Macleod.
Participants from the two nations can only compete in individual events, and not team sports, under a neutral
flag, and are barred from the Olympic opening ceremony.
Commenting on the restrictions faced by Russian and Belarusian competitors, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
the move “destroys Olympic ideals and discriminates against the interests of Olympians.” Such restrictions run
“absolutely contrary to the entire ideology of the Olympic movement,” he insisted.
The mayor of Paris has reiterated her proposal that Russian and Belarusian contestants stay away from this
summer’s Olympic Games in the French capital, despite them being officially allowed to compete as neutrals.
“I want to tell the Russian and Belarusian athletes that they are not welcome in Paris,” Anne Hidalgo told
Ukrainian athletes at a training center in Kiev on Thursday, while on a visit to Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) initially pushed for a complete ban on competitors from Russia and
Belarus after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. However, last December the IOC ruled that a
limited number of people from the two countries could participate as AINs (individual neutral athletes).”
Hidalgo told Reuters earlier this month that she would prefer for Russian and Belarusian contestants not to come
at all. “We cannot act as if [the Russian military operation in Ukraine] did not exist,” she told Reuters.
When asked about Israel’s Olympic participation – in the context of the Gaza war, raging since the Hamas attack
on October 7 – Hidalgo insisted there was no comparison to be made.
Sanctioning Israeli athletes is “out of the question because Israel is a democracy,” she stated.
Russia has slammed the IOC’s difference in approach to Israeli and Russian contestants. Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov has accused the Switzerland-based body of “political activism” and called its approach
self-discrediting.
The maximum numbers of Russian and Belarusian athletes that can qualify for the upcoming games are 55 and 28,
respectively. The IOC has noted that the teams are unlikely to actually meet the quota, with some 36 Russian and
22 Belarusian athletes expected to make it to the games, according to IOC director James Macleod.
Participants from the two nations can only compete in individual events, and not team sports, under a neutral
flag, and are barred from the Olympic opening ceremony.
Commenting on the restrictions faced by Russian and Belarusian competitors, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
the move “destroys Olympic ideals and discriminates against the interests of Olympians.” Such restrictions run
“absolutely contrary to the entire ideology of the Olympic movement,” he insisted.