Manila: While initially drawing condemnation for the gravitation of his administration towards non-traditional allies such as China and Russia, President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership is now reaping rewards for its foreign policy reorientation.
On Wednesday, the Duterte government received 3,000 units of M-4 type assault rifles and 90 sniper rifles as well as six million rounds of ammunitions from China, as part of a commitment made by Beijing during the early part of the year.
“On behalf of the Filipino people who are indeed the ultimate beneficiaries of Chinese’ magnanimity, I accept this donation from the people of China with a deep sense of gratitude as well as renewed sense of hope for our nation’s safety and security. We assure you that these donations will be put to productive utilisation by our Armed Forces,” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.
China had announced the “donation” early this year to boost the Philippines’ capability to combat terrorism as well as to bolster the Duterte administration’s fight versus drugs.
Duterte, on receiving the donated weapons during a ceremony at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga on Wednesday said the arms shipment “strengthen our country’s commitment to support each other during times of need, but also highlights the dawn of a new era in Philippine-Chinese relations.”
“We are almost on bended knees sometimes because of lack of equipment. It is a good thing we have a good friend like China who is very understanding,” he said.
The arrival of the weaponry came a month after the Philippines became engaged in fighting a new, and ferocious enemy---radical Islam which is represented in the country by the Lanao-based Maute.
For more than two decades, the country had been fighting the Abu Sayyaf, a group based in Western Mindanao that aims to establish an independent Islamic state.
However, the type of warfare employed by this particular group is largely guerrilla warfare.
The Maute employs a type of conventional that takes and hold territory similar to those wage by their brethren in the Middle East, the Daesh.
During past administrations, it was mainly the United States that supported the Philippines in its fight against terrorism---providing training to its military as well as hardware which are largely “hand-me-down” used equipment. Duterte had deftly leveraged the threat posed by the Maute and the Abu Sayyaf and other similar radical Islamic groups, to draw support in terms of hardware from other countries.
Last June 5, the United States turned over brand new weapons and equipment under the US government’s counterterrorism train and equip programme.
The weapons include 300 M4 carbines, 200 Glock 21 pistols, four M134D Gatling-style machine guns, and 100 M203 grenade launchers.
Last week, Australia also announced it will be deploying two P3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft to the Philippines to guard the country against submerged threats.
Although the Philippines has traditionally been a firm ally of the United States, Duterte broke convention by opening up to prospective allies to include China, Russia, Japan as well as Malaysia and Indonesia.
He had said that as long as other countries do not interfere in the internal affairs of the country, he is open to working with them.
“As our troops wrap up our operation against the remaining terrorists in Marawi, I also welcome our international partners into looking forward to rebuilding this city. This invitation extends to our allies who share with us the principles of goodwill and non-interference in our domestic affairs,” he said.
