Is Duterte Playing the US and China?

Just to follow up on Duterte's recent comments regarding stepping away from Philippine's alliance with the United States, I share an opinion piece by Filipino journalist Raissa Robles, who interprets Duterte's actions as playing the two superpowers--the US and China. China has just lost the Hague ruling on the South China Sea but isn't willing to back down against the Philippines, for it already has de facto control over disputed territories. Duterte's gesture toward the United States is a signal to China that the Philippines is willing to talk about reconciling some of the differences. I think that this may happen, but it won't be significant. Meanwhile, Duterte's insults and threats against his US ally is another way to ask the Americans for better offers. The problem with this approach is that the Americans may not be pressured, since the Philippines is still very much reliant on the United States for support, especially militarily. Duterte's maneuvering may become a modern-day case of what Prof. John Gaddis (who teaches the popular Cold War lecture here at Yale) calls "the tail wagging the dog"--small nations playing between superpowers to serve their own interest.