A show of brute force: Russian Marines smash BRICKS over a comrade's stomach and hit each other with burning wood during 'skills' display in Manila as Philippines bolsters ties with Moscow









  • Russian Marines showed off their skills to the Filipino public in Manila's central park as part of a 'goodwill visit'
  • They had cinder blocks crushed on their stomachs and endured beatings from flaming planks in the display
  • The Russian Navy announced earlier this week that it was planning to hold war games with the Philippines
Russian Marines shattered glass bottles with their heads and smashed burning wooden planks against each other as part of an eye-catching charm offensive in the Philippines.
The camouflage-clad Marines showed off their pistol-shooting, knife-fighting and martial arts skills to the Filipino public in Manila's central park as part of a 'goodwill visit'.
As bewildered passers-by watched, the Russians smashed boards with their fists, had cinder blocks crushed on their stomachs and endured beatings from flaming planks.
The show culminated with them smashing glass bottles on their heads without any visible effect.
Brute strength: Russian Marines smashed bricks over their comrades' stomachs as part of an eye-catching charm offensive in the Philippines
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Brute strength: Russian Marines smashed bricks over their comrades' stomachs as part of an eye-catching charm offensive in the Philippines
Tough nut to crack: The show culminated with them smashing glass bottles on their heads without any visible effect
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Tough nut to crack: The show culminated with them smashing glass bottles on their heads without any visible effect
Feeling the burn: As bewildered passers-by watched, the Russians smashed boards with their fists, had cinder blocks crushed on their stomachs and endured beatings from flaming planks
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Feeling the burn: As bewildered passers-by watched, the Russians smashed boards with their fists, had cinder blocks crushed on their stomachs and endured beatings from flaming planks
After the display, eager Filipinos rushed to take 'selfies' with the beret-wearing Russians.
'The performances were great, the stunts were quite impressive,' gushed student Antonio Chua.
The visit was spearheaded by two warships following Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's announced pivot away from the United States.  
The camouflage-clad Marines also smashed boards with their fists and feet during the display in the Philippines capital
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The camouflage-clad Marines also smashed boards with their fists and feet during the display in the Philippines capital
Russian marines attached to the anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs show their skills during a demonstration at a park in Manila
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Russian marines attached to the anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs show their skills during a demonstration at a park in Manila
The visit was spearheaded by two warships following Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's announced pivot away from the United States
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The visit was spearheaded by two warships following Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's announced pivot away from the United States
Filipinos were also allowed to attend an open house on the submarine-hunter Admiral Tributs, one of the two ships making what was only the Russian Navy's third-ever port call in the Philippines
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Filipinos were also allowed to attend an open house on the submarine-hunter Admiral Tributs, one of the two ships making what was only the Russian Navy's third-ever port call in the Philippines
Filipinos were also allowed to attend an open house on the submarine-hunter Admiral Tributs, one of the two ships making what was only the Russian Navy's third-ever port call in the Philippines.
Duterte, who calls himself a socialist, has championed a move away from the United States and towards US rivals Russia and China following American criticism of his bloody war on crime that has claimed thousands of lives.
'America has lost,' Duterte said on a visit to China in October last year.
Duterte, who calls himself a socialist, has championed a move away from the United States and towards US rivals Russia and China following American criticism of his bloody war on crime that has claimed thousands of lives
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Duterte, who calls himself a socialist, has championed a move away from the United States and towards US rivals Russia and China following American criticism of his bloody war on crime that has claimed thousands of lives
The Russian Navy said earlier this week it was planning to hold war games with the Philippines, as two of its ships made a rare stop in Manila following Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's pivot from the United States
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The Russian Navy said earlier this week it was planning to hold war games with the Philippines, as two of its ships made a rare stop in Manila following Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's pivot from the United States
A Marine uses his fists to lash out at a glass container full of water in another show of strength during the bizarre display
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A Marine uses his fists to lash out at a glass container full of water in another show of strength during the bizarre display
Russian Marines show their individual combat skills during a public capability demonstration at the Luneta National Park in Metro Manila
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Russian Marines show their individual combat skills during a public capability demonstration at the Luneta National Park in Metro Manila
Through the pain barrier: A Marine shows off his fighting skills as crowds watch on in a park in the Philippines today
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Through the pain barrier: A Marine shows off his fighting skills as crowds watch on in a park in the Philippines today
Filipino children pose for pictures with some of the Russian soldiers who took part in the display in Manila 
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Filipino children pose for pictures with some of the Russian soldiers who took part in the display in Manila 
Russia's ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev said Thursday he expected a planned visit by Duterte to Russia in April or May to be 'a milestone'
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Russia's ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev said Thursday he expected a planned visit by Duterte to Russia in April or May to be 'a milestone'
'I've realigned myself in your (Chinese) ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia. It's the only way.'
Russia's ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev said Thursday he expected a planned visit by Duterte to Russia in April or May to be 'a milestone'.
'It will be a very successful visit that will give a powerful impetus (to our) cooperation in different fields,' Khovaev told reporters at the Marines' display.

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US newspaper says coup vs Duterte possible

WASHINGTON – The future of the once-solid US-Philippine defense alliance is uncertain as President Duterte cozies up to China and a coup may be on the horizon, The Washington Times reported.
Manila has become one of the murder capitals of the world under Duterte’s watch, the conservative newspaper said in a three-part series on US-Phl relations by staff writer Guy Taylor.
The worrying prospect is if Duterte allows access rights to Chinese military vessels or some kind of air and sea access to Philippine airstrips and ports, John Blaxland, a former Australian military intelligence official who now teaches at the Australian National University, told the Times.
“The question is will the Philippine military, which is pro-American and already wary of Mr. Duterte’s flirtation with China, allow that, and whether a Trump presidency would perhaps condone a coup to overthrow Duterte if things turn so drastic,” Blaxland said.

“We’ve got to put this on the table,” he said. “We frankly don’t know what the Trump presidency’s policy will be toward Southeast Asia.”
The US and China are deeply intertwined economically and many analysts here believe Washington will do everything possible to try to keep the bilateral relationship on a peaceful and cooperative basis.
But there are points of friction, including China’s expansion of military facilities on artificial islands it built in the South China Sea that is also claimed in parts by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
US president-elect Donald Trump has said that what China is doing in the South China Sea violates international law, adding “we are going to restore our naval power and when we assert our freedom-of-navigation rights like every power in the world, we will do it appropriately. There will be no ambiguity about it.”
The Times quoted analysts saying the future of US-Philippines relations, and quite possibly of America’s overall footprint in the region, now hinges on a huge unknown: will Trump get along or clash with his equally unpredictable Filipino counterpart.
When Duterte telephoned Trump in December to congratulate him on his election victory, the Filipino leader said Trump wished him success in his campaign against the drug problem and invited him to the White House.
But Trump’s transition team hasn’t confirmed the anti-drug endorsement or the invitation.
Under former president Benigno Aquino III, ties with the US were strong but soured when Duterte took office on June 30 and launched his war against drug pushers and users which to date has resulted in over 6,000 people killed.
Duterte has insulted outgoing US President Barack Obama for interfering in the country’s internal affairs by condemning extrajudicial killings in the drug war. He has also started lessening military dependence on the United States and is looking to China and Russia as allies.
The Times’ Taylor, who visited Manila for his article, quoted a spokesman for the US Navy 7th Fleet as saying there has been no disruption in the clearance process for visiting US Navy  ships to the Philippines. But other Navy officials who spoke with the newspaper said nerves are on edge over Duterte’s negative posturing toward Washington.
In his second installment, Taylor said there is a bipartisan move in the US Senate to scrutinize and perhaps cut off the $32 million the State Department sends annually to aid Philippine security forces in light of “horrific violations of basic human rights” that have come with Duterte’s election.
It said according to latest data from the Philippine National Police, 6,206 people have been killed in the war on drugs since July 1.
Of these 2,157 were suspected drug pushers/addicts killed in police operations as of Dec. 27 while 4,049 were victims of extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings.
The Times said the hard-line populist Filipino president has succeeded in turning Manila into one of the murder capitals of the world by authorizing the police and an array of unknown accomplices to gun down at point-blank range anyone suspected of dealing or using drugs.  
In its final series on Thursday the Times interviewed elder statesman, former president Fidel Ramos, who suggested a Trump visit to the Philippines may be needed to downgrade Duterte’s threat to neutralize the 70-year-old US-Phl defense alliance and shore up Washington’s troubled ties with one of the linchpins of its regional security network.
Ramos told the Times that he and other former high-level military officials have made it clear to Duterte that he should “maintain our military alliance with the US and pursue not an independent foreign policy but an interdependent foreign policy.”