MAURO GIA SAMONTE
ON the occasion of the recent Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) Summit in Singapore, President Rodrigo Duterte was reported to have sought China’s guidance in handling the South China Sea tension thus: “Everything has been excellent between China and the rest of Asean, except for the fact that there is friction between the Western nations and China and I am worried... I expressed it.... because we have a defense treaty... with the US and [if] there’s some, any serious miscalculation can, you know [start a conflagration]...”