US midterms have little impact on PH. But…
The global arrangement has been radically upended. It used to be this formulation: When America sneezes, much of the world catches a cold. Now, it has changed to this one: When America sneezes, the world can just shrug off that sneeze. Including us. The dominance is gone; never mind the fact that it is the world’s largest economy and the top military power.
Of course, the US is still one of our top trading partners and a major source of official development assistance (ODA). It is, by all reckoning, the country’s “chief armorer.” Cultural trends there have a large and enthusiastic audience here. US universities are still the preferred destinations of ambitious Filipinos taking up masters and doctoral degrees. The super wealthy families have their kids start their BA at elite US universities and colleges. The largest Filipino community overseas is in the US. When you look at the global diaspora, this is much evident: the US remains the largest source of foreign remittances. Remittances from the US usually top the remittances from the next nine sources of hard currency year after year (Middle East countries, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong).
But the attachment of Filipinos to the US — and all things American — no longer has the zeal and the intensity of that attachment under the bipolar global order.
And the leaders of the two countries have moved to discourage anything that would restore the close relationship. Both President Trump and President Duterte favor policies that rein in the traditional attachment of Filipinos to the US.
Mr. Trump has proclaimed himself as a “nationalist” who believes in the ideal of a “nation-state.” These are just code words for an America defined by uniformity in religion, culture, history and language (and even ethnicity). This means no tolerance for diversity in whatever mode or manifestation.
The hard-line policy against immigrants and immigration (except when this involves his wife and his in-laws, all from Slovenia) easily falls under the brand of Trump’s “nationalism.” Mr. Trump’s political base includes white supremacists and openly bigoted racists. Exclusion of non-white has been an anchor of Mr. Trump’s nationalist policies.
Fred Trump, Mr. Trump’s father, was once sued in New York City for his refusal to allow blacks to rent or lease from his apartments.
Mr. Duterte has advocated a foreign policy that veers closer to China and Russia, and not the US. Raul Manglapus, the late statesman-senator, had a term for that — “slaying the umbilical cord” that had tied us to America.
In this context, with the thawing of the relationship, it is safe to assume that the US midterm elections that saw Democrats take over leadership of the House of Representatives and the Republican Party’s retention of the Senate, will have zero or very little impact on the Philippines. The loss of a Fil-Am woman, Iraq veteran Gina Ortiz Jones, who ran in Texas 23rd and fought hard in a tight contest, also robbed the Philippine diaspora in the US of bragging rights. The Republican incumbent, Willie Hurd, had a margin of just 689 votes over Ortiz Jones.
So, what is the “But ….” The “But” in the headline is Poland-born Tom Malinowski, the newly elected representative of New Jersey’s 7th congressional district, who was part of the “blue wave” that swept the recent elections in the US Northeast. That wave saw the last Republican representative of New York City, a popular and centrist incumbent, defeated by a bland and unassuming Democratic candidate.
Why should the Duterte administration pay attention to Mr. Malinowski, who went to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar? His background and past involvements.
After his stint in the speechwriting and policy shops of President Clinton, Malinowski served as the Washington director of the Human Rights Watch. His notable work as director included a campaign for democratic reforms in Myanmar, the inclusion of women’s rights as a precondition for the peace talks with the Taliban, and his advocacies related to the Syrian Civil war.
From April 2014 to January 2017, he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
His work at State, according to published reports, covered several issues and several locates. He led the efforts of the Obama State Department to defend LGBT rights across the globe. He supported the UN effort to look into possible war crimes committed during the civil war in Sri Lanka. He led efforts to help religious minorities persecuted by the ISIS in Iraq. He led the work to sanction North Korean officials for human rights abuses.
He was once expelled in Bahrain for meeting with opposition leaders during a visit there.
He called out President Trump for what he claimed was Mr. Trump’s “obscene fondness” for “tyrants.”
It is clear that Mr. Malinowski is not afraid to speak out his mind on issues governing women and human rights
In the future, and that maybe sooner than later, he may train his sights on the Philippines.
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