The Philippines has had a special relationship with the United States since the islands were ceded by Spain to the United States after the Spanish-American War at the end of the 19th century. However, since the election of Rodrigo Duterte, the country has pivoted more toward China, and away from the U.S. Duterte has also launched a large-scale war on drugs that many criticize for its brutality. What does the future hold for U.S, relations with the Philippines?

Speaker: Kannan Solayappan

Kannan Solayappan grew up in Chennai in Southern India and earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at a university in Bangalore. He then worked for 15 months in an Indian nylon factory as a graduate engineer. In the late 1980s, he saw the promise of computers and went to Australia to study computer science, graduating with a master’s in 1992. He then got married and came to work in the U.S. Starting as a software developer in the San Francisco Bay area, he moved to Minnesota in 1998 and has been a software consultant here for over 20 years now. In these years he has worked in most of the major companies in Minnesota, including IBM, Mayo Clinic, American Express, Cargill, 3M, United Health Care, Medtronic, U.S. Bank and now Wells Fargo.