Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration confirmed on Sunday that a Chinese military aircraft landed in Davao City on Friday, as reported by local media.
Viral social media posts spread images of the plane’s visit to Duterte’s hometown, prompting a response from Special Assistant to the President Bong Go.
“There are reports from social media showing a Chinese government plane landing in the Philippines. The request for landing was received, processed, and cleared by relevant Philippine government agencies,” Rappler reported Go as saying in a statement on Sunday.
Further details were provided by presidential spokesman Harry Roque who said the aircraft – identified as an Ilyushin IL-76 transport plane – stopped for refueling and no passengers left the airport terminal, according to PhilStar Global.
There was some speculation as to why the aircraft chose Duterte’s hometown of Davao City, where he previously served as mayor before becoming president.
Security analyst Chester Cabalza, vice-president at the Center of Research and Strategic Studies at the Development Academy of the Philippines said it showed Beijing’s “preferential treatment” for the Philppine president.
“We could infer China is giving importance with its relationship to our president and with the country. There’s more impact on this because China is giving preferential treatment to President Duterte and to his city that is Davao,” he told ANC’s Headstart.
The debate about the current Philippines administration’s China policy raged on after the plane landing, with the country’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano arguing Sunday that the pivot towards friendlier ties to China has yielded “more gains.”
“Under the management and administration of President Duterte, we have more gains today. The previous approach is loud but (there are) a lot of losses. There are victories, there are gains but many losses. But doing it through a prudent and patient diplomatic approach, there are many results,” Cayetano was quoted by BusinessWorld as telling reporters Sunday.
Richard Heydarian of De La Salle University, who is also a frequent Asia Times contributor, disagreed with Cayetano, arguing that Duterte has “overly emphasized” engagement with China, cautioning against being “meek and humble.”
“If the logic of Cayetano is to be followed, then there should be no incidents with the Chinese regarding our fishermen who are in the area. However, there are frequent harassments done by the Chinese and the Duterte administration ignores these,” he told BusinessWorld in a phone message.
“The fairest way of looking at this is to say it has been a mixed bag. It is unfair to blame the Duterte administration for our deteriorating strategic position on the ground but I think it is also very unfortunate that the Duterte administration has not leveraged our arbitration award in the best way possible,” Heydarian said.
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LOL… Chinese sonic acoustics… Chinese ????SONIC???? acoustic….
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LoL, everyone knows that asian times is littered by anti-Chinese propaganda articles based on ridiculously biased "speculations" and "opinions" written by notorious agitators.
I do not understand why you philipino do not like be friend with China. Do you want declare war to China? Do you prefer be a slave of USA? Do you prefer to be ally with the most war criminal of this world? Its 70 years you are a US slave. US do not care about you philipino, US kiss your ass just because they need your land as a base and, most important, you have to spend billions to buy weapons fro US. MY DEARS PHILIPINO WAKE UP!!
some Filipinos among the list of World Billionaires have chinese blood by root, their grand grand parents were from China who were refused or fought against the communist government of Mao Tse Tong and then, they were migrated to the neighboring island Philippines before long ago.
These Filipino-chinese blood by root Billionaires are against China all the way, and the Philippine government must listen their advice for the country’s economy. These Filipino-chinese Billionaires are actually the backbone of the Philippine economy but they don’t want China’s policy.
Egypt uses Abrams tanks and flys F-16 fighter jets. Egypt recieved billions from the U.S. prior to the coup. We have supported you since 1948. MAGA
Maybe a druglord has landed!?!?
Talking about our territory in the West Phil Sea, Mr. Pres Digong is almost blind eye & deaf ears.
Maybe the chinese military plane is no longer to land on the Spatly hence they can land now anywhere in the country under Mr Digong as co-pilot.
Duterte is China’s most subsevient puppet,,
Not to mention the "usyusero" onlookers, the roaming budol2 gangs, the traffic congestion plus the uncollected garbage in metro manila.