Managing Negotiations: The Duterte Way (Part 4 and References)

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What Do The Colors And Symbols Of The Flag Of Philippines Mean ...
On Foreign Policies and International Affairs including travels and deals. In 2017, Duterte released a Memorandum Circular number 16, directing all government agencies to seek approval from the Office of the President before entering into negotiations, international agreements covering borrowings, guarantees and foreign grants. This is to iterate his role as the the Chief Executive, the sole chief architect of the Philippine Foreign Policy who has the authority to decide which international agreements the country enters into (Ranada, 2017). Later in 2019, he instructed all departments and state-run firms to halt negotiations and agreements grants and loans from countries that have backed United Nations (UN) investigation into his bloody war on drugs and countries who initiated and part of making a resolution on the investigation of killings in the Philippines (Lema, 2019). These actions made by the president proved his sole authority as the master of foreign policy of the country, and clearly it sends message to every leaders that no one can intervene and influence him, as he continuously projecting an image as a strong leader.
Interestingly, Duterte was noticed to be the most traveled President. His travels in his first year of office cost the government at least P386.2 million (USD 7.72 million), and there was that one trip that cost PHP31.8 million (USD 626,000 a day). Although, he seems to be allergic to extravagance and unnecessary expenses, he spent in record thrice than his predecessors on foreign travels during his first year (Ranada, 2017). But what really makes Duterte invested too much on foreign travels?. As claimed by some senators, it is the outcomes that matter and not the expenses. They further pointed out that establishing foreign relations was the main agenda. Hence, Philippines, although spending too much on foreign travels, PH is not losing, as huge investments were brought back to land (Elemia,2017).
Moreover, Credo (2017) considers Duterte travels as strategically important. Duterte visited all ASEANS countries with an aim to: engage and cooperate with its neighbors in matter of mutual interest; expand and forge relations as a manifestation of an independent foreign policy; promote diversification of partnership; recognize the interdependence among states and contributes to the Philippines national interest and domestic agenda; resolve domestic security concerns; strengthen financial and societal reforms by attracting foreign investments; access new markets; curtail unemployment and boost overall economic development; address the threat of terrorism; strengthen maritime security cooperation; combat transnational crimes; commit to a drug-free ASEAN community;  improve air and sea connectivity for enhanced trade and people-to-people exchanges; create conducive environment to business in areas such as agriculture; food processing and development of halal products, tourism services and expand Islamic banking. These are some of the few goals Duterte administration is tryng to achieve between his government and the neighboring ASEAN countries, not to mention his deals and agreements with China, Japan, Russia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Qatar among others.
Such attitude manifested by the Duterte administration in connecting and reaching out to other countries clearly help the country improve its leverage, and the techniques applied by the administration were well orchestrated. These activities related to foreign relations and policy were being initiated to strategically place the country in the position that will be easier for them to negotiate its needs in the future. Will this contribute to the negotiation skills of Duterte? Is this somehow a form of  an intelligent tactic? Investing too much in the foreign relations and travels?. Although, there were no negotiations and deals made during his travel in some parts of the world, this activities will surely help the Duterte administration to gauge the countries as to how they will lay out their strategies on the table in the future deals and negotiations, what needs of the government will these countries can provide as satisfiers, and in return, what needs can Duterte government provide to these countries. Hence, this activities play a crucial role in the pre-negotiation, and Duterte somehow played it well, and as stressed by Thomas C. Schelling, international relations is really all about negotiations and bargaining (Ramsay, 2017).
The President will end his term this 2022, and more narratives can shed even more light as to how he manages negotiations and applied his skills . Hence, this article is a work in progress- Jethro A. Odoy








References

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Blancaflor, M.J.(2020, February 8). Duterte to ‘negotiate’ with water firms. Manila Standard. https://manilastandard.net
CNN Philippines (2020, April 5). China sends medical experts, additional supplies to help PH combat COVID-19. CNN Philippines. https://cnnphilippines.com
Credo, J.P. (2017, September). Understanding the Strategic Importance of Duterte’s  Foreign Trip. Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS) of the Foreign Service Institue (FSI). http://www.fsi.gov.ph
Curato, N. (2016). Politics of Anxiety, Politics of Hope: Penal Populism and Duterte’s Rise to Power. Sage Publication. /doi/pdf/10.1177/186810341603500305
Esguerra, D.J. (2019, December 6). Gov’t hopes Reds will accept Duterte’s offer to reopen peace negotiations. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net
De Castro, R.C. (2019, November 4). From Appeasement to Soft Balancing: The Duterte Administration’s Shifting Policy on the South China Sea Imbroglio. SWP Berlin. https://www.swp-berlin.org
Elemia, C. (2017, June 19). Senators on Duterte's foreign trips: Outcome more important than expenses. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com
GMA News Online (2019, October 6). Duterte reiterates: PHL has no might in sea dispute vs. China. GMA News. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news
Heydarian, R.J. (2020, February 29). Duterte's decision to end the alliance with the US is reckless. Aljazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com
Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs, Inc. (2016, May). Duterte to fight for country’s claim over West Philippine Sea. IMOA. https://www.imoa.ph
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Lema, K. (2019, September 20). Philippines' Duterte orders shunning of loans, grants from backers of U.N. drug war probe. Reuters.  https://www.reuters.com
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Ocampo, S.C. (2020, January 18). 2 Duterte advisers try to discredit, reject CASER. Philippine Star. https://www.philstar.com
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Ranada, P. (2017,April 18). Duterte OK needed for negotiation, signing of int'l deals, loans. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com
Ranada, P. (2017, July 10). Duterte's foreign trips cost thrice more than predecessors'. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com
Ranada, P. (2019, August 29). LIST: 6 agreements signed during Duterte-Xi August 29 meeting. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com
Ranada, P. (2019, September 10). Duterte 'ignoring' arbitral ruling to make way for joint exploration. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com
Sison, J.M. (2020, January 12). Repeated offer of Duterte for one-on-one in Manila is a trap and is aimed at preventing peace negotiations. National Democratic Front of the Philippines. https://ndfp.org
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Wooton, M. (2016, October 18).  Negotiating in China and the Philippines. Manila Times. https://www.manilatimes.net
Zamora, F. (2016, April 22). Law student Duterte shot frat brod on campus in ’72. Inquirer. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/
Photograph:
[Photograph of Rodrigo R. Duterte] (2020). Retrieved from <a title="duterte png 5" href="https://pngimage.net/duterte-png-5/">duterte png 5</a>

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