Talaga ba? De Lima says Duterte wants PH to become “satellite province” of China

President Duterte had always planned to cut ties with the United States all along and transform the Philippines into China’s “substitute for Taiwan.”

Senator Leila de Lima stressed this on Tuesday saying that Duterte’s unilateral abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and United Statss was “the last step towards making the Philippines a full-fledged Chinese province or satellite.”

“[Palace Spokesperson Salvador] Panelo wants us to believe that the abrogation of the VFA was a matter of principle, that Duterte thinks it’s about time that we stand on our own and be self-reliant in our national defense and security,” she said.

“This is a lot of bullshit. Duterte’s move is dictated by his desire to ingratiate himself with China,” De Lima said.

She insisted that Duterte’s vision “is to transform the Philippines into a Chinese province and outpost along the first island chain towards the Pacific.”

“He delivered the decapitated head of the US-PH VFA to China on a silver platter as part of his strategic vision of the Philippines’ pivot to China which, Duterte behooves, is now the dominant global superpower in the region,” she said.

“Duterte does not care about Philippine self-reliance or national security and sovereignty. He has all but surrendered the West Philippine Sea to China’s incursions and island-building,” De Lima said.

She added, “It is doubtful if he is really concerned about the impending Chinese plan to island-build on Scarborough Shoal as soon as it gets over the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease-2019) crisis, the Americans and the VFA being the last line of defense against such Chinese plan.”