By: Cong Corrales I HAD goose bumps when I heard President Rodrigo Roa “Digong” Duterte declare an independent foreign policy against US intervention. I believe he is the very first President of the Republic’s history to ever do so. Before you hyperventilate and panic because our President just trashed our superpower “brother” from the north, hear me out. You’re thinking: This will spell the end of the Republic. Former President Fidel Ramos wrote in an article in the Manila Bulletin, “DU30’s first 100 days – Team Philippines losing.” He writes: “In the overall assessment by this writer, we find our team Philippines losing in the first 100 days of DU30’s administration--and losing badly. This is a huge disappointment and letdown to many of us.” I am not surprised with Ramos’ disappointment to President R2D2’s seemingly anti-US sentiment. Ramos, after all, is an American-trained general. He graduated in its prestigious West Point. If Ramos once dreamed for the Philippines to be a “newly industrialized country,” then getting out from the clutches of the US would have done it years ago. If it’s any consolation, we will not be the first country to leave the controlling clutches of the Hyu Hess of Hay. From the top of my balding pate, I can name at least two countries that made it out just fine without the meddling Americans--China and Cuba. The US slapped Cuba with the longest running economic embargo against any other country in the world. Look at them now. They have the highest literacy rate and many countries envy their public health system. As for China, it has since become the biggest threat to imperial US since World War II – both economically and militarily. Now, the US owes China a butt-load of money. An imperialist country is only as strong with the number of countries it has its tentacles on. True, we will all be facing the greatest challenge the Republic has faced since the Battle of Intramuros. But it will take all of us Filipinos to make this work. I believe in the patriotic strength of the Filipino. We did before – once against Spain and second against Japan. It will take every single Filipino to finally be free from the clutches of the US. After the US will have uprooted its troops here and will be long gone, we will need every single Filipino in reconstructing our industries, and farms. Every single Filipino – all 99,996,000 of us, minus EJK victims – will have to step up and do what we can to take back the country from the clutches of the US. So, shouldn’t President R2D2 stop killing Filipinos under the pretext of his war on drugs?