This paper examines Philippine foreign policy under the Duterte government
(2016–2022). During this period, Philippine foreign policy is widely acknowledged to have undergone dramatic shifts, with the government making
friendly overtures towards China at the cost of its traditional alliance with the
US. From a foreign policy analysis perspective, this paper explicitly focuses on
the role of political leadership in guiding national foreign policy. This paper
argues that the Duterte government made strategic use of political marketing
in promoting its populist foreign policy. Thus, political marketing is used as
an analytical lens with which to examine much of the rhetoric and behaviour
of the Duterte government, particularly in regard to its response to the
US–China rivalry. By engaging in this supposedly diplomatic game, the
Duterte government tried to sell its foreign policy promises and outcomes as
products even when its rhetoric was at times disconnected from its actual
performance. Overall, this paper develops an alternative perspective from
which to add to our understanding of the role of populist foreign policy initiatives
in a fragile democratic setting.