The former president’s comments also show a deepening rift with the incumbent that risks further splitting the ruling alliance, sparked by differences in foreign policy and domestic issues like Marcos’s push to amend the Constitution.
Ex-Philippine Leader Duterte Slams US, Marcos in Chinese Media
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Former President Rodrigo Duterte accused the US of inflaming tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, while criticizing his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of supposedly doing America’s bidding.
“The Americans are the ones pushing the Philippine government to go out there and find a quarrel and eventually maybe start a war,” Duterte was quoted as saying in an interview with Communist Party-run Global Times published Friday. “But I do not think that America will die for us.”
- The former president — who brought Philippines closer to China during his term as part his “independent foreign policy” — said that discussions between Beijing and Manila on the sea dispute won’t prosper under Marcos.
- “You cannot talk to him because it is the Americans that will tell him what he should say to you,” Duterte said, offering to negotiate with China to ease tensions.
Duterte’s interview with Global Times came out as the Philippines forged closer ties with the US and Japan in the first trilateral summit among the nations hosted by President Joe Biden. Under Marcos, the Philippines has adopted a more assertive stance in the South China Sea where clashes against Chinese vessels have been increasing in the past year.
- Earlier this week, Marcos said he was “horrified” to learn that Duterte supposedly struck a “gentleman’s agreement” with China that restricts Manila from sending repair materials to a crumbling warship serving as its military outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal.
- Marcos’s communications office has yet to comment on Duterte’s latest remarks.
- The US Embassy in Manila, meanwhile, reiterated that America’s commitment to its alliance with the Philippines is “ironclad.”
The former president’s comments also show a deepening rift with the incumbent that risks further splitting the ruling alliance, sparked by differences in foreign policy and domestic issues like Marcos’s push to amend the Constitution.
Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, has largely refrained from commenting on the South China Sea dispute.
--With assistance from Jing Li.
'You're a crybaby': Duterte slams Marcos for being 'pro-America'
''You are a crybaby, always America, America, America... And you call yourself, you call our place Republic of the Philippines?'' Duterte said of Marcos, who is in Washington DC for a trilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Before leaving for the US on Wednesday, Marcos said he was "horrified" by Duterte's agreement with China, saying it "compromised" the sovereign rights of Filipinos.
- In a late-night news conference in Davao City, Duterte said he conceded nothing to China during his administration.
- He, however, adverted to a status quo in which neither the Philippines nor China would make any move that would disrupt the South China Sea — including the bringing of construction materials to the BRP Sierra Madre.
In his news briefing, Duterte also challenged Marcos to go to Ayungin Shoal as he is being backed by the US government when it comes to tension in the West Philippine Sea.
He also criticized Marcos over the Office of the President's 60-day preventive suspension of Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib due to various administrative complaints. He also floated the possibility of him and Marcos being "political enemies" due to Jubahib's suspension.
''Hindi ko kalaban si Marcos, pero along the way, magkakalaban talaga kami. We will be political enemies... You cannot remove that kind of situation," he said.
(Marcos is not my opponent, but along the way we would become rivals.)
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