 |
| Photo from Reuters |
Blogger's Notes:
Commentary of an Academic
(Copyright @ 2019 by Chester B Cabalza. All Rights Reserved).
All is set for President Rodrigo
Duterte’s visit to Russia on October 1-5 where he will speak before the Valdai
Forum in Sochi about the theme “The World Order Seen from the East.” It is recalled that jihadists and foreign terrorist
fighters in Mindanao maneuvered a perfect timing to attack Marawi City in
Southern Philippines last May 2017 while the Filipino leader flew to Moscow for
a five-day state visit but was aborted within half day upon arrival in an
attempt to reorient his country’s geopolitical alliance through his newly
concocted Independent Foreign Policy created during his election three years
ago carrying the mantra of “friend to all, enemy to no one” approach - a move
to strengthen Philippines’ international defense and security cooperation with
non-traditional allies including socialists China and Russia.
Initially President Duterte got star
struck to Russian president Vladimir Putin in November 2016 at the sidelines of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting in Lima, Peru. When
President Putin invited him to Kremlin, the Filipino firebrand leader ardently acknowledged
the bromance on his first trip to Russia and personally met his “favorite
hero”. That gave him the iota of realigning his ideological framework on
working on a new world order with China, the Philippines, and Russia at the
forefront against the world. For Russia’s appeasement, it has refrained from
admonishing Duterte’s strategic acquiescence on war on drugs that led to
thousands of extrajudicial killings.
At that time, one of his intentions of
forging a formal defense accord with Russia addresses the need for securing
precision weaponry to be used against Islamist militants in Mindanao. This
major blow on Philippine internal security under Duterte’s regime apparently
showed the massive impact of terrorism, an endemic security problem not just in
the Philippines but within Southeast Asia. Terrorism turns out to be a common foe
of the two Eurasian countries that gave more meaning to the nascent stage of friendship
while fostering a mutually-beneficial and building a stronger defense and
security relationship. Advancing into a strategic partnership, Russia disclosed
to adamantly support the Philippines’ struggle against terrorism, drug
trafficking, piracy at sea and other security sector issues.
In over four decades of the
Philippines-Russia relations, Manila sent for the first time its defense
attaché to Moscow last May 2018 signifying the Philippines’ seriousness in
pursuing defense and cooperation with Russia. It aimed at strengthening linkage
with Russian military institutions and defense industry while monitoring the
implementation of the Defense Cooperation Agreement signed with Russia in May
2017. This however ensured the synergy in the Philippines’ relations with
Russia in the politico-security and defense arenas. As early as September this
year, Moscow reciprocated the act of sending its defense attaché to Manila
while setting a milestone for the diplomatic ties of the two countries paving a
new channel of communication to enhance bilateral defense pact.
This renewed diplomatic ties is seen as
multi-dimensional in keeping with the principles of sovereignty,
non-interference and equality since Peter the Great laid down a strategy to
explore the Far East via India and the Philippines to establish trade links in
1722. Today, the beautiful dive sites and pristine islands of archipelagic
Southeast Asian Philippines have become favorite hubs among tourist Russians
despite the absence of a direct flight from Moscow to Manila. Since 2013, the
Philippine Department of Tourism has been participating in the Moscow Travel
and Tourism Exhibition to strengthen existing relations by ensuring continued
growth in the hospitality and tourism sectors. As Russia achieves an upper
middle-income status from a mixed and transition economy since its fiscal
reforms in 1990s, thereby aggressively expanding the privatization of its
energy and defense-related sectors, Filipino household service and skilled
workers are in demand in the former USSR. However, Russia wants to limit the
agreement from government-to-government negotiations in which the Philippines
has yet to comply considering that labor organizations in Manila are not abreast
to this kind of set-up.
Meanwhile, the highlight of the visit is
the honorary doctorate degree to be conferred by the prestigious Moscow State
Institute of International Relations or the MGIMO to the Filipino leader,
formerly a city prosecutor and mayor, before becoming the 16th
president of the Philippines. This conferment is an exception from his other
state visits aimed at expanding and forging relations as a manifestation of his
undefined independent foreign policy, thinking that the diversification of
partnerships can recognize the growing interdependence among states that may
contribute to the Philippines’ national interest and domestic agenda.
In November last year, the Philippines
and Russia completed the plan mapping out joint military activities that paved
way to the four-day friendly visit of three Russian warships docked recently in
Manila last September 23. This military plan include high-level exchanges, port
visits of navy vessels, reciprocal visits of staff and security consultants for
military training exercises, people-to-people engagement and education
exchanges. In the same way, a Philippine frigate made a historic trip to
Vladivostok last year while Russian gray ships now make regular visits to the
Philippines. It is only during the time of President Duterte that the two
non-traditional countries have reached the peak of golden age of partnership while
the Philippines sees Russia as a major strategic player in geopolitics, defense
and security, and a good host to overseas Filipino workers.
The warming defense and security
relations of the Philippines and Russia started from admiration to admission of
Russia’s strategic role in global politics as the Philippines tries to spell
out its diversified Independent Foreign Policy while at the same time Russia enjoys a
foreign policy to retain its position as a major power in the multipolar security
architecture of the world.
