Duterte urged to protect EU, U.S. links for trade’s sake

President Rodrigo Duterte. AFP PHOTO / MANMAN DEJETO

Even as the country seeks to have an independent foreign policy, a lawmaker said the Philippine government still needed to display “good diplomacy” to help boost its trade relations with strategic economic partners.

“I believe good trade relations can be done through good diplomacy … We need good diplomacy not only with China or Russia, but also with the European Union and the United States. We should continue to open our lines of communication with the EU and the US and not to make too many enemies,” Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, said on the sidelines of the 42nd Philippine Business Conference.

The Philippines’ bilateral relationships with the EU and the US have become increasingly strained due to the controversial remarks made by President Duterte against the two economies.

“The President has made his point. He wants an independent foreign policy and I support that because all our Asean neighbors have an independent foreign policy. Nobody bullies Malaysia, Singapore or even Vietnam. We would like to have that independent stand as well so that when we meet with our Asean brothers, we don’t have to be called the little brown brother of somebody. We can be an independent developing nation,” Zubiri explained.

The same diplomacy will also be critical for the Philippines in regaining good relations with China as the current administration makes a pivot towards this economic giant.

Zubiri, however, noted there was no longer a need for the country to come up with new legislative measures to improve the bilateral relations between the two economies, considering that the Philippines has had a friendly relationship with China.

“Prior to President Aquino’s term, we had good trade relations with China. About 30 percent of the pineapples and bananas from Bukidnon are being shipped to China. But when we had the hostage taking incident in Manila involving Hong Kong nationals, our relationship went downhill from there (and so did our trade relations),” Zubiri said.