By Tatiana L. Maligro
Design by Ryan James P. Pascual
M
illions of social media posts bearing the hashtag ‘#NotMyPresident’ erupted soon after the Republican party nominee Donald J. Trump emerged victorious in the US elections. Shortly after the results were announced, thousands of Americans protested against Trump’s victory – online accounts of Muslim women being ripped off of their hijabs and minorities being told by white Americans to “go back to where they belong” fueled their resolve. In our country, meanwhile, a group of Filipino students took part in the protest by holding a rally, only to be mocked by fellow Filipinos, “Akala mo green card holder ang mga gago.” Thinking that the Philippines is not affected by the new US administration, others were indifferent at how indignant President Rodrigo Duterte was while cutting ties with America. To say the least, however, it isn’t right to think that Trump’s political gambles won’t send waves across the Pacific to the archipelago we call home. Pera padala no more Currently, 4M Filipinos – comprising nearly one third of all Filipinos living abroad – reside in the US. As of 2015, these US-residing Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) send around Php 463.2 billion worth of remittances back home, which is approximately 43% of all remittances sent by OFW’s worldwide. OFW remittances comprise 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With fewer job opportunities after President Elect Donald Trump’s proposal of giving Americans their “jobs back” from illegal immigrants, the remittances may dwindle. Also, his threats to penalize firms for taking their operations abroad threatens the Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, with $1 34
to $2 billion (around 0.4 to 0.7 percent of the country’s GDP) expected to be lost because 70 percent of BPO earnings are from American firms. Trump’s reign could compromise the economic state of the Philippines. According to experts, the country should consider establishing closer ties with other countries as early as now to recuperate from the possible loss. A possible alliance? China is being considered as one of Trump’s “biggest global challenges” considering the country’s ongoing hostile takeover of its neighbors’ various territories along the South China Sea, the Philippines’ Spratly Islands included. Also, the US stumbled during the first steps in easing up the tension in the West Philippine Sea. Beijing issued a formal diplomatic protest against the US claiming that Trump’s phone call with first female Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen violated the “One China Policy”. The policy states that Taiwan should be viewed as a part of China and not its own country. To reclaim the disputed territory, an article from Cable News Network (CNN) suggested that Trump should build good camaraderie with President Duterte. However, with Duterte’s desire to gain military and economic independence from the US, Trump will have to find other ways to maintain the decades-long Philippine-US alliance. Trump’s other cards on deck Trump’s presidency puts not only relations with Philippines at stake, but also America’s ties with other countries. The new administration threatens to pull back US nuclear support to South Korea and Japan and military support to its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies if the other members will not pay. “They have to protect themselves or pay us,” said Trump requiring these countries to pay the US after claiming that his country has the bad end of the said alliances.
Another country that could be greatly affected by Trump’s presidency is Mexico. Constructing a wall along the US-Mexico border is on Trump’s list to keep Mexicans from illegally entering the country. According to him, Mexico should shoulder the $10.6 billion bill “to ensure that the $24 billion [remittance of Mexican illegal residents] continues to flow into their country”. Trump’s campaign does brings optimistic proposals as well. For example, there are 44,800 US troops deployed to 20 countries in the Middle East to assist in keeping the peace of the region against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Trump believes that cutting off ISIS’s funding, with the support of other nations, would limit its resources and ability tolaunch more terror attacks across the world. Trump has other strategies planned for his country concerning health care, infrastructure, and the assistance for American veterans, among others. Through thorough discussion with the previous administration, Trump’s platforms may change to ensure the smooth transition of his administration. *** One can easily conclude that because of their geological distance from the US, their country would not be affected by Trump’s presidency. However, we must remember how globally influential the US is and how the world’s fate is in the hands of its leader. After all, when America gambles, it’s the world that loses the bet.C Sources: What can the Philippines expect from a U.S. Trump presidency? (http://cnnphilippines.com/) What would it take to build Trump’s border wall? (http://edition.cnn.com/) South China Sea: Can Donald Trump stop conflict? (http://edition.cnn.com/) Immigration (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/) Foreign Policy and Defeating ISIS (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/) Trump’s NATO Remarks Stuns U.S. Allies (http://www.theatlantic.com/) Japan, South Korea hit back at Trump’s nuclear comments (http://www.edition.cnn.com/)
Vol. 43 No. 4 December 2016