A new international ballgame

Whether we like it or not, the United States remains a very important country – and whatever happens to it affects the whole world including the Philippines. No surprise then that local networks such as ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) put up a special coverage of the US Presidential Race 2016 to give live updates on the US elections.

ANC invited me to be a resource person for the segment anchored by Nancy Irlanda, a veteran business journalist who is one of the original ANC anchors. Nancy asked a lot of incisive questions to help viewers make sense of the hotly contested presidential race that has been hounded by issues of “mistrust,” with the two rivals – Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – trading barbs and being the object of controversies and scandals and being equally disliked by voters. Donald Trump won his way to the White House by taking the key battleground states of Florida (29 electoral votes), North Carolina (15 electoral votes) and Ohio (18 electoral votes) – a big upset that has seen market shares plunging.

As I told Nancy, this has been an election marked by brutal exchanges between the two candidates. While the Clinton camp was able to paint Trump as a rough person with little respect for women – timing the release of the recordings where Trump is heard saying sexual remarks – the Republican candidate was able to amplify the missteps of Hillary as state secretary especially with regard to the Benghazi issues, plus the idea that she charges as much as $200,000 per speech.

The whole “email” controversy also hounded Clinton, and while the FBI reiterated its findings that there was no case against Hillary, the damage has been done, so to speak. All in all, these “exposes” have created an atmosphere of mistrust during the whole campaign period.

Also up for grabs are 469 seats in Congress, with the Republicans poised to retain control of the House of Representatives. As everyone knows, whoever takes control of Congress will be crucial as it could affect the policy-making efforts of the new US president. Since 2011, Republicans have controlled the House and it’s not exaggerated to say that they have contributed to the white hairs of US President Barack Obama.

One of the reasons why there has been so much attention given to the US elections is that a radical shift in US policy could shake the world. From his words, Trump has given the impression that he was leaning towards “isolationism” – although he has tried to correct this by saying he is putting forward “Americanism.”

Observers say this is actually counterproductive considering that countries have become interdependent as far as their economies are concerned – and this includes China and the US whose relationship has been described by some as “mutually dependent” on each other as far as their respective economies are concerned.

Trump’s win has created ripples of anxiety for many Filipinos employed in the business process outsourcing sector because of his campaign promise to take back these outsourced jobs that have been “stolen” from Americans. Revenues from the BPO sector are estimated at $25 billion – analysts say it could even eclipse OFW remittances – and there are concerns Trump might just institutionalize his campaign promise.

However, I spoke with several American BPO companies here and they said they are not about to close their operations in the country and in fact, they even want to expand. The problem, they said, is that they are not sure where the Philippines plans to take this “independent foreign policy.” The rhetoric they have been hearing from President Rodrigo Duterte “worries” them to a certain extent because they see no clear indication of where the whole thing is going.

Hopefully, the President will convene the National Security Council with all the members, including former presidents so the government will be able to come out with a cohesive, independent foreign policy with our relationship with the United States, China and even Russia factored in in this whole “Duterte pivot.”

As I mentioned in my column last Sunday, the President may have been gazing at a crystal ball and saw something many of us never imagined would happen – hence, his resolve to craft a foreign policy that is not too dependent on the United States. However, the relationship between the two countries is such that it will be able to weather “controversies,” having become stronger and deeper over the years, regardless of who gets to be president of the United States. Many remain hopeful, however, that the US and the Philippines will be able to bring the bilateral relationship to a new level of engagement.

Sources from the US State Department told me that many career officers now find themselves in a quandary, and many who have been used to the “establishment style” will find themselves hard pressed to adjust to the anti-establishment style of Donald Trump. In other words, it’s a totally new ballgame.

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