In revoking his “suspension” of the Visiting Forces Agreement, Duterte is consistent with his being a puppet of both US and Chinese imperialism and the fact that the US still has all-round dominance over the Philippines.

Without having to violate the constitutional ban on foreign military bases and forces in Philippine territory, the US can assert and exercise the right to free navigation in the South China Sea just like all other countries in order to rip apart the baseless claim of China over 90 per cent and even the entirety of the South China Sea.

Now, let us see whether the Duterte regime or the next regime will dare to tell China to withdraw from the artificial islands and military bases that it has illegally made and occupied in the West Philippine Sea.

So far, the Duterte regime is assuring China that it can retain the aforesaid military bases, its telecom facilities side by side with US facilities in the camps of the reactionary armed forces, its control of he national power grid and expanding direct and indirect investments in the Philippines.

US military control of the Philippines should not be a pretext for perpetuating Duterte’s sell-out of sovereign and maritime rights and other extraterritorial privileges to China. Neither all these should be a pretext for perpetuating US military control of the Philippines.