Proving his worth as a US asset even after terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement, Duterte along with his IMF-trained technocrats and supermajority “diehards” are aggressively pushing for the passage of amendments to the Public Security Act (PSA). This reform, which he certified as urgent and is part of his legislative agenda, was approved on second reading by the reactionary Congress on February 18. The amendment will remove telecommunications and transportation from the definition of “public services” to further dismantle restrictions that limit the entry of foreign investments in the country.

This scheme demonstrates Duterte’s utter subservience to imperialism as the amendment is part of the imposition of the US to completely liberalize the local economy to the benefit of foreign monopoly capitalists. Particularly, the removal of the said industries from the list of public utilities is among the policy recommendations of the American Chamber of Commerce under its The Arangkada Philippines Project (TAPP). By lifting the foreign equity limit on

these industries, Duterte will subject the Filipino people to worse forms of imperialist domination as foreign capitalists will be able to fully own and control the operation of strategic local enterprises.

Once the amendment is passed, Duterte and his minions are set to accumulate billions of dollars from bribes and cuts from foreign contractors for unsolicited proposals and concessions that are to be negotiated.

The Communist Party of the Philippines denounces the US-Duterte regime for its all-out effort to open the local economy to foreign plunder and exploitation. The Filipino people must resist this liberalization scheme being pushed by the puppet US-Duterte regime as this only aims to guarantee the superprofits of imperialists under the guise of promoting “competitiveness.”