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Sources indicate that Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-American tirades stem from his historical association with known Filipino Communists and his Vietnam-era leftist movement involvement.

The Nikkei Asian Review’s Jun Endo states that:

“Jose Maria Sison, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was one of his teachers at college. The Duterte cabinet also includes certain members recommended by the communist party.”

Jose Maria Sison praises President Rodrigo Duterte's performance on his first 100 days in office. #100DaysOfDuterte https://t.co/pZXrRi2fR8 — Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) October 7, 2016

In May, the New York Times ran a piece that detailed the incidents of a “mysterious blast” in the Philippines that happened on Rodrigo Duterte’s watch as mayor of Davao.

Mysterious Blast in Philippines Fuels Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘Hatred’ of U.S. https://t.co/7O0p8pN4Gc — alanah torralba (@alanah_torralba) May 14, 2016

Duterte’s complaints stem from what he perceives to be unfair criticism against his violent drug war and alleged extrajudicial tactics being used.

“Son of a whore, I will curse you in front of everybody“. (referring to President Barack Obama, prior to an ASEAN conference) Duterte

While there are few indications that Duterte intends to emulate an ultra-statist and redistributionist approach to governance a la Venezuela – his coziness with the Communist Party of China and his recent announcement of a “separation” from the United States may provide some clues as to what drives the man behind the bellicose words.