Fighting Words? U.S. and the Philippines

An American ally refuses to assign an ambassador to the Unites States? Well, that’s what happened. Last month President Duterte said, “In the US, we have no ambassador. No ambassador will go there. Until now, we do not have an ambassador in the United States. I don’t feel like sending one.”

These comments will not come as a surprise if one is familiar with the contentious history of the United States and the Philippines.

Both parties should work through any differences and come together for their common purposes:  Halting the spread of Islamist groups in the southern Philippines and confronting the expansion of Communist China.

But should the United States allow these remarks to affect the relationship that the United States and the Philippines share?  First, let’s review the history of this relationship and show how we got where we are and if these types of comments are unusual.

Start of a Rocky Relationship

In February 1898, the USS Maine exploded in Havana Bay, Cuba killing over 260 American sailors. This precipitated the war against the Spanish by the United States.

At first, the Filipinos gladly welcomed the capitulation of the Spanish; as they thought they gained their independence after 500 years of rule. The Americans were not planning to take over the archipelago. However, as occurs many times throughout history, misunderstanding, hubris, and greed took over. The Americans thought it was their duty as a civilized people to rule over the islands and help their “little brown brothers,” a term coined by William Howard Taft, the first American Governor-General of the Philippines.     

Filipinos thought otherwise; in particular, Filipino hero, Emilio Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo was involved in guerrilla warfare against the Spanish, and a treaty was executed between them that allowed Aguinaldo to leave the country for Hong Kong. After the Americans had destroyed the Spanish fleet, Aguinaldo returned to his native land in mid-May 1898.  He quickly declared himself dictator, proclaimed the independence of the Philippines and formed a government.

With Americans remaining in the Philippines after the Spanish relinquished the islands in December 1898 and with Aguinaldo building a separate government independent of the Americans, a clash was inevitable.

That clash occurred in February of 1899 and began the Philippine War. Soon the fighting turned into irregular warfare where combatants and civilians were indistinguishable. High command issued orders against physical coercion and to treat natives by “kind and considerate treatment in all matters…” However, the war resulted in some atrocities from American soldiers frustrated by the fighting.  One commander stated, “the judicious application of the torch is the most humane way of waging such a war.” Other extra-legal means were employed by isolated American outposts trying to stay alive and win the war.  

President Theodore Roosevelt declared the war over in 1902 after Aguinaldo was captured and outrage from the American public regarding torture and other atrocities reached a crescendo. Filipino casualties were estimated at 200,000 civilian and 20,000 military dead. American suffered 4,234 dead.

With a rocky start like that, is it any wonder there continues to be animosity lingering below the surface?

World War II

Soon after the war ended, Americans tried to atone for their sins in the conflict.  Hundreds of Americans came to the country to build, teach and civilize. Compared to European colonizers, the Americans were benevolent. Americans were not allowed to own large tracts of land, they allowed the Filipinos to conduct elections for a national legislature (the first freely elected legislature in Asia), and the bureaucracy was filled only with Filipinos. Dams, railroads, schools, and ports were built. But at the end of the day, the Americans continued to be in the charge, and that caused continued resentment in the Filipinos.  

While Americans and Filipinos were trying to work out their rocky relationship, the Japanese were on the march in North Asia. In 1941, the Japanese turned their eyes to Southeast Asia. The American commander of the American–Filipino forces, General Douglas MacArthur, was fully unprepared for the Japanese invasion.  Within six months, the Allies surrendered, General MacArthur escaped to Australia, and the Philippines fell under a brutal Japanese occupation.

Though the Americans ultimately liberated the Philippines from Japanese occupation many believed that if the United States were not present in the Philippines in the first place, Japan would not have invaded. (President Duterte’s recent comments reflect this attitude: “The missiles there in Spratlys can hit Cagayan de Oro, Pampanga and Palawan. So you want to go to war by what? By proxy? Where is the battleground? The Republic of the Philippines.”)

Independence

Finally, on July 4, 1946, America granted the Philippines independence. In return, the Americans were granted a ninety-nine-year lease of a naval base at Subic Bay and an airfield outside of Angeles City, Clark Airfield. These two bases would serve the United States well in the following decades.

Though the Philippines gained independence and sovereignty there remained anti-American attitudes.  This was aggravated by the United States assisting the new Filipino government in their fight against the communists, Huks. Of course, this fed fuel to the argument that the Filipino government remained puppets of the Americans. 

In the 1960s, through President Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asian equivalent to NATO led by the United States. However, Marcos soon declared that the economic ties to the United States were a mixed blessing.  (Sounds like a current President?). This was possibly for public consumption to allay any fears that he was a puppet of the Americans. 

In 1971 President Marcos declared martial law in response, he claimed, to a possible communist takeover. The United States continued to support Marcos since he was a supposed stalwart against communists. In 1981, he ended marital law and opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, returned to the Philippines. Upon his arrival, he was assassinated.  Marcos blamed the communists, but it was soon discovered that the military planned it. This triggered international and local outrage and began the downfall of Marcos.

Using the “People Power” slogan to rally her supporters, the wife of assassinated Benigno Aquino, Corazon Aquino, ran for President in 1986 and won. In 1986 the United States persuaded Marcos to leave the country to prevent additional violence. Several years later in 1989, there was an attempted coup, and President George H. Bush provided fighter cover to prevent rebel air attacks on her nascent government.   

From the mid-1980s to the end of the decade the United States government was very much involved in the internal struggles of the Filipino government. Though the United States helped rid the Philippines of an obviously corrupt Marcos regime, resentment still lurked beneath the surface with this intrusion by the United States. 

In 1991 Mount Pinatubo, at the edge of Clark Airfield and 20 miles north of Subic Naval Base, erupted. As the volcano unleashed pent-up ash and rock, it also unleashed another round of anti-Americanism. Radicals in the Filipino Senate took advantage of the situation and voted not to extend the leases of the bases. By November 1992, there were no American bases in the Philippines for the first time in 100 years.

As nature abhors a vacuum, so does geopolitics. China stepped in to fill this vacuum in the South East China Sea.

Post-Base Closures

With the American bases shut down in the Philippines, there was no permanent U.S presence in the area. As such, the Chinese saw an opportunity and quickly moved into the South China Sea. They declared that 80% of the South China Sea was Chinese territory, built platforms on disputed Spratly and Paracels Islands and Scarborough Reef, and harassed, rammed and blocked access to ships and planes in the area.  The Communist Chinese were letting the world know who was in charge.  And the United States was sending mixed signals.  Then the attacks on September 11^th occurred, and its attention was diverted to the Middle East.

While the Philippines allowed United States forces to collect intelligence and train Filipinos for the fight against the Islamic terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf, it was still hesitant and concerned about the United States policy regarding China.

Though the Obama administration claimed there was an “Asian Pivot,” the Chinese continued to bully its neighbors in the region. Obama showed no real determination to thwart the Chinese, which looked like appeasement to many.  

This uncertainty and weakness led Duterte to reach out to the Chinese. While in China, Duterte declared, "America has lost now. I've realigned myself in your ideological flow …  And maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines, and Russia. It's the only way."

Conclusion

As we seen throughout its history, it is not unusual for the Filipinos to react negatively to the United States because of insecurity, envy, and self-interest. Most important they want to be seen as an independent nation not beholden to anyone else.  All these are traits many former colonies carry with them.

But in fairness, the Americans have not been consistent in their policies regarding China, and it can be pointed out that Americans have failed their allies in the past when the going goes tough (Vietnam, Egypt, Iraq, and so forth). I am sure President Duterte is hedging against this by playing nice with the Chinese.

The two nations need each other. Having open access for all nations in the South China Sea benefits all parties. The Chinese acting like the troll under the bridge demanding toll payments will disrupt the world economy and hurt the Filipinos’ unstable economy the most. If the Filipinos want to be truly independent, they do not want the Chinese as masters. 

As for the Islamic terrorists in the south, Duterte appears to understand the problem that they pose and that they cannot be appeased.  However, the Filipinos cannot go it alone in this fight. 

So, should Americans allow Duterte’s comments to affect our relationship with the Philippines?  No.  We have strong historical ties with the country and real strategic concerns in the region.  And has we have seen, these outbursts are not unusual. But we should also not allow a quasi–dictator to dictate U.S policy. The U.S has other options. I am sure Duterte has noticed our outreach to Vietnam. Plus, the new Trump administration’s comments regarding China should make Duterte rethink his comments and allegiance.

Soon everyone will be shocked when Duterte sings the praises of the American partnership.

Sean P. Morrisroe served 10 years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantryman.  In his post-Marine Corps career, he has advised clients at various investment banks and firms focusing on mergers & acquisitions.  He graduated from UC Irvine with a BA in History and attended the London School of Economics.