Amid the recent assaults from European Union, the United Nations and human rights groups, Malaysian opinion maker John Teo, who writes for the New Straits Times, said Rody's "single-mindedness may be starting to pay economic dividends" referring to his commitment on the war on drugs.


His commentary stated that Malaysians, like many ordinary Filipinos, applaud and approve of Duterte's "tough love" drive to bring a greater semblance of peace and order "that is so essential for the country to advance further economically."


He noted that not only are the Asian powerhouses of China and Japan outdoing themselves in lavishing economic largess on the country, "but Malaysian businesses are also waking up to the country's untapped economic potential."


The attacks on Rody started when he espoused an independent foreign policy that veered away from the Western world and created stronger ties with his Asian neighbors, including China which the previous US puppet administration of Noynoy considered a foe.


China and the Western world, primarily the United States, have long been engaged in a battle of principles regarding the social model that is being imposed on the Chinese, including the United States railing against China's supposed exploitation of labor that are, however, happening in many American manufacturing bases in that country.


"Our corporations and individual investors, unlike far savvier Singaporean ones, have overlooked the Philippines for too long, clouded in perceptions as we tend to be often misleading and dramatic headlines about the country," Teo added.


He noted that companies that have dared to venture onto Philippine shores are often richly rewarded.


He cited gaming giant Resorts World as a pioneer when the industry was first opening up to international players "and now reaps handsome first-mover advantages."


He also credited AlloyMtd Group, a Malaysian infrastructure outfit, which offered to invest more than $5.5 billion to convert the area around the former American Clark airbase into the Philippines' version of Malaysia's planned city of Putrajaya.


"As with our own administrative capital, the Clark Administrative City will do much to relieve the heavy congestion of Metro Manila, if combined with plans to convert Clark airfield into the new international airport to replace the seriously overcrowded one serving the Philippine capital," Teo said.


Teo also sees the bigger positives of Rody as he said the country "is perhaps best placed under Duterte to finally resolve its long-festering twin insurgencies by Moro and communist rebels, both largely centered in the President's home island of Mindanao."


Teo said the country's rambunctious democracy "may appear alien and somewhat intimidating to more sedate Malaysians and it also means the country will not necessarily get from point A to B in a neat and straight line."


"Frustrating as this may be at times, it is an inescapable fact that businesses and investors must grapple with all the time," he added.


He noted, however, that "investments everywhere involve calculated risks."


From the start of his administration, Rody had foreseen the need to bond closer with his Asian peers rather than the pontificating Western powers which impose their norms on other countries using their economic muscle as leverage.


China became a world power by resisting Western impositions and by asserting its culture and its historical methods of running government.


"Asians who have deep parental respect have in their tradition what is equivalent to tough love," as Teo puts it, "that Westerners consider inappropriate and even a violation of rights."


Sources: 

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A case of tough love by Tribune Editorial , March 21, 2017, <a href="https://goo.gl/XwrE7Y" target="_blank" class="news_link" title="Source">The Daily Tribune</a>
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</ol>



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President Duterte: A case of President's tough love for his people