As a former U.S. colonial subject, the Philippines has retained close cultural and official ties to Washington. The new Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has shown that he intends to deviate from his predecessor’s distancing from the United States by rebuilding relations with the West while simultaneously drawing closer to Asian nations - including China.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. shares a party and similar voting base as his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, but the new Philippine president brings forth a more Western-biased foreign policy that will surely cause tensions to rise in the South China Sea region.

The Philippine 2022 presidential election is just days away. The highly popular president Duterte is likely to be succeeded by the “Bong Bong” Marcos and Sara Duterte, who will build on his legacies. The opposition’s proxy campaign has failed.

Rodrigo Duterte led the Philippines in the last six years with his own brand of populist, oft-criticized leadership. While his successor may not inherit his bombastic attitude, they will have to take over relations with an ever-powerful China and a long festering maritime row.

The Philippines is gearing up for a hotly contested presidential election, and the relationship with China across trade and security must be addressed by each candidate.

Overshadowed by U.S.-Sino friction, the 2022 election will be about the future of the Philippines. Old economic elites hope to undermine leading candidates and create a series of U.S.-Philippine military faits accompli before the vote.

“The U.S. once held the Philippines as a colonial possession, but now finds itself having to win back the Southeast Asian nation’s good graces to counter a rising China.”

The famously bombastic Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has managed to carve out a working relationship with China despite ongoing maritime disputes between the two. His leadership, as well as the economic benefits of maintaining friendly ties with China, are on the line when the Philippines elects its next president this fall.

The U.S. has seemingly pulled out all the stops to advance its agenda in Southeast Asia, hoping to entice countries away from China. Yet, as members of China’s neighborhood, ASEAN members will find it hard to create distance between themselves and China, literally and figuratively.

The controversial claims China has made in the South China Sea has made it difficult to be its neighbor - but Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to subvert his own administration to try and mend fences.