Useless hyperventilation is the only way to describe the outlandish overreaction of anti-Duterte quarters to the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on “oil and gas development” between Manila and Beijing during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Philippines last week. The overreaction was bizarre and betrayed the tendency of these critics to assume the worst of motivations from the government even on perfunctory matters. One can even make the case that these critics were spreading misinformation when they accused President Rodrigo Duterte of treason in supposedly signing an “exploration agreement” with China, allegedly covering disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

No treason in oil and gas MoU with China. (2018, November 28). The Manila Times, p. A4.