Is all publicity good publicity?

If the saying that “all publicity is good publicity” applies to countries, then the Philippines can take great comfort in recent months. There have been far more column inches and air time in the UK about the country since the election of President Duterte than  there ever was during the time I worked as British Ambassador in Manila for over four years from 2005-9. I haven’t studied the US media as carefully, but even the occasional look at US television reveals a much greater interest in the country than, I suspect, since the Marcos and Aquino eras.

Part of the interest is of course in the so-called war on drugs which President Duterte implemented shortly after taking office. The BBC, for example, ran toward the end of last year on its World News channel a detailed expose of some of the ramifications of that policy for small time criminals. How accurate the claims of some of the unidentified interviewees were is impossible to judge, but the program made for dramatic and disturbing viewing. There have been numerous reports as well in the press here about President Duterte’s claims that he was been personally involved in some extra-judicial killings when he was the Mayor of Davao.

Another angle on the Philippines which has been covered in some of the more serious press is the alleged pull away from the close US relationship toward a more sympathetic stance toward China and Russia. This of course has added interest in London and the US with the start of Donald Trump’s Presidency, and the uncertainty he has generated about his policy toward President Putin.

So while I don’t wish to give the impression the Philippines has suddenly burst daily on to the front pages here, there is no question that there is far greater interest in the country than there has been for several years. I have been aware of this personally with numerous enquiries both in London, and also during recent visits to New York, Canberra, Mumbai and Sydney, about the likely impact of the Duterte Presidency.

Although no longer a diplomat restrained by British Government policy I have nonetheless taken the line it is still too early to draw major policy conclusions about the direction of travel for the Philippines under its new-ish Administration. I have also pointed out that, based on a fleeting stopover in Manila last November, how struck I was by President Duterte’s seeming continued popularity. 

This greater interest in the Philippines will also have a significant impact for the work of its diplomats in key countries like the United States and Britain. It will put considerably more pressure on its Ambassadors there to explain to the media what President Duterte is trying to achieve. The extensive media background that Ambassador elect Babe Romualdez has, and Ambassador elect Tonet Lagdameo’s previous experience in the UK, should therefore be helpful.

I hope too that this increased focus on who the Philippines will be working with strategically in the coming months will add interest to this column. In future columns, as well as considering the strategic issues driving interest here in the Philipines, I plan to look at some of the bigger events in the UK, not least the exit from the EU, as well as I hope the occasional piece on some of the more down-to-earth examples of Philippine influences in Britain.

(Peter Beckingham, a former Governor of the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Deputy High Commissioner in India, was British Ambassador to the Philippines from 2005-9. His views do not necessarily reflect the policies of the  British Government.)