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Philippines President prepares for first visit to Russia, where he will meet President Vladimir Putin
Trip comes as Philippines realigns its diplomacy and trade policies in the face of Western criticism over human rights abuses
CNN
—
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte will depart on an official five-day visit to Moscow Monday, as part of an effort to realign his country’s foreign policy away from longtime ally the United States.
Under Duterte, who took office in June 2016, the Philippines has made overtures toward Beijing and Moscow – seeing the countries as a source of much-needed investment – and away from the US.
In a pre-departure speech Monday, Duterte hailed the visit as the “writing of a new chapter in the Philippines-Russia relationship,” describing it as a chance to “correct” the “strategic oversight” of previous Filipino leaders.
“There are opportunities of cooperation that cannot be ignored” said Duterte. Reiterating his “firm resolve to broaden the horizons for friendship,” Duterte highlighted Russia’s “geographic footprint” as well as its “strategic interest in the (Asia Pacific) region” as reasons for extending cooperation between the two countries.
Relations between the Philippines’ traditional ally, the US, have been strained. Last year Duterte lashed out at former US President Barack Obama amid reports the US was canceling an arms deal over alleged human rights abuses.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, November 19, 2016.
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
At the time, Duterte said, “I’m no American puppet,” and suggested Manila would turn to Russia instead.
Over the weekend, Duterte indicated that one of the top priorities of the trip would be to acquire Russian-made precision armaments, to use against Islamist militants in the Southern Philippines, local media reported.
“I’ve been scouting around for (a weapon to finish them off)… I’m going to Russia. Same purpose. If they can spare us the precision-guided (bombs)… we have so many smart bombs but not as accurate as the ones guided by laser or satellite,” he said at a Philippine Coast Guard Auxillary national convention, according to the Philstar.
The trip, alongside recent visits to China, is designed to diversify the Southeast Asian nations’ trade as relations with allies such as the European Union and the US become increasingly chilly.
Russian President Vladimir Putin extended the invitation on the sidelines of an APEC summit in Peru last November, according to Maria Natividad, Philippines’ assistant secretary for foreign affairs.
The trip sends “a strong message of the Philippines’ commitment to seek new partnerships and strengthen relations with nontraditional partners” such as Russia, Natividad said.
The visit to Moscow and St. Petersburg marks the first time Duterte will visit Russia and his administration hopes it will “mark a new chapter in Philippine-Russia relations,” she added.
It will kick off with a bilateral meeting between Duterte and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, before the Philippines’ president gives a policy speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) on the Philippines’ independent foreign policy and “his ideas on how to achieve peace and security, especially in the Asia Pacific region.”
He will then meet Russian President Vladimir Putin – who Duterte previously described as his “favorite hero” – before hosting a gathering of expatriate Filipinos who have settled in Russia and surrounding countries.
The two countries last year marked 40 years of diplomatic relations, but ties remain “best described as cordial albeit modest in scope and depth,” Natividad said at a pre-departure briefing for the press ahead of the trip.
The trip, which a trade delegation will also attend, is expected to lead to deals in defense, security, legal assistance, tourism, the “peaceful use of nuclear energy” and cultural exchange.
Bilateral trade in 2016 totaled $226 million, with the Philippines only exporting $49 million worth of goods to Russia, Natividad said.
Speaking at a business forum in Manila in December 2016, Duterte admitted killing suspected criminals during his time as mayor of Davao City.
AFP/Stringer/Getty Images
The day after Trump won the US presidential election in November 2016, Duterte said he and Trump share some traits.
TED ALJIBE/Getty Images
After reports emerged of a potentially blocked arms sale, Duterte told CNN Philippines in November 2016 that he would turn to Russia for weapons.
AFP/Stringer/Getty Images
During a state visit to China in October 2016, Duterte announced his economic and military 'separation' from the US.
Pool/Getty Images
In October 2016 Duterte expressed growing hostility with the US president.
Lam Yik Fei/Stringer/Getty Images
After US president Barack Obama said he would raise extrajudicial killings in a meeting with Duterte, the Philippines President responded angrily on September 5, first in English then in Tagalog. As a result, Obama canceled the meeting.
As he addressed troops at the country's Armed Forces Central Command Headquarters on August 5, Duterte recounted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, saying in Tagalog that he was feuding with U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
The Philippines president-elect effectively said he supported vigilantism against drug dealers and criminals in a nationally televised speech in June 2016.
MANMAN DEJETO/AFP/Getty Images
Foreign diplomats weighing in on Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks did not sit well with the then-mayor.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
Duterte apologized to the Pope after cursing him for the traffic he caused during a 2015 Papal visit to the Philippines.
Bullit Marquez/AP
In September 2016, Duterte likened himself to the Nazi leader and announced that he wants to kill millions of drug addicts.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
Speaking at a press conference to unveil his new cabinet on May 31 2016, Rodrigo Duterte said journalists killed on the job in the Philippines were often corrupt.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
During the third and last presidential debate, Duterte had said that he would plant a Philippine flag in disputed territories should China refuse to recognize a favorable ruling for the Philippines.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Duterte made international headlines in April 2016 with his inflammatory comments on the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary that took place in Davao City.
AFP/Getty Images
He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
At a CNN Philippines Townhall event in February 2016, Duterte, admitted that he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled due to his womanizing, but he denied this meant he objectified women.
MANMAN DEJETO/AFP/Getty Images
Although he later denied the accusations, the former Davao City mayor admitted his links to the alleged Davao death squad in a May 2015 broadcast of his local television talk show.
Western countries have taken issue with Duterte’s track record on human rights since taking office – his police force has waged a bloody war on drugs over the past year, with extrajudicial killings of dealers and users numbering the thousands.
“They’re blackmailing me that they won’t sell weapons? We have lots of explosives here,” Duterte said, according to CNN Philippines.
“I remember what the Russian diplomat said: Come to Russia, we all have here anything you need.”
The Philippines has also distanced itself from the European Union, recently rejecting an aid package worth around 250 million euros ($278 million) over the next three years, given as it was tied to commitments to improve human rights.
“We cannot accept aid with conditions,” Foreign Affairs Minister Alan Peter Cayetano said.
“We’re just telling them very respectfully: we believe in our independence. We know our problems better than you. You are welcome here. Let’s do business but we will not accept aid if there are conditions or you will interfere.”
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China influence tests US - Philippines alliance (2017)
Duterte has a “very long, complex history of anti-Americanism,” Joshua Kurlantzick, a Southeast Asia fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations told CNN, and his relationship with former President Barack Obama was particularly fractious, with the Filipino leader once calling Trump’s predecessor a “son of a bitch.”
Kurlantzick suggested that while Duterte is likely to visit Washington he may not want to appear as though he is embracing the US, given how much he has courted China and Russia.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the title of Maria Natividad. She is the Philippines’ assistant secretary for foreign affairs.
