Advancing the Philippines-Russia Security Relations

Photo from Reuters

By Chester B Cabalza

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 16^th 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.