Long after the historical 1986 EDSA Revolution and subsequent restoration of Philippine Democracy, the emergence of a fascist leader was quite unforeseen.
Rodrigo Duterte, from the Duterte Dynasty in Davao, decided to run for the presidency back in 2016. With nothing but his strong political will and supporters, he bravely ran in the elections — or so we thought.
Vulgar, but honest?
While Duterte scorns the national government’s ways, he does not have concrete, fundamental, and rightful proposals to offer. Instead, he believes that to solve the country’s problems, a direct approach is needed—even if it means to kill. In his urgent job to “build and unite the nation”, he will not allow anyone or anything to stand in his way.
Because he disdains the ‘prim and proper’ way politicians talk and act, he embellishes his own statements with his vulgarity: from cursing, making rape jokes, to invalidating the deaths of the own people whose blood are on his hands. Among other things, he talks of ‘slapping’ the emerging pandemic. He purports to be authentic, brief, and someone who does not decorate their words with lies and deceit.
His populist and no-filter approach with ‘solutions’ appeal to the Filipino people as it is his way of demonstrating his ‘unyielding and uncompromising love for the Philippines’. Like he said, “If you are not prepared to kill and be killed, you have no business being president of this country.” With a facade of siding with the ‘common people’, he has captured the heart of the nation because he is a breath of fresh air that speaks on the government’s inability to handle crises in the country. It is alluring to find someone who feels the same distrust towards the higher authorities.
Controversial ‘war on drugs’
As he claims his seat in the palace, he has followed through his campaign on ‘war on drugs’ to tackle the drug trade in the country. But at what cost? The lives of the Filipinos, that is. Over tens of thousands of citizens have been killed, many of them innocent, among those who are children and minors, including the infamous case of Kian delos Santos in 2017. This is the only case that led to a conviction. Promoting impunity for the state officials, Duterte lets police officers walk away free from charges.
But it has gotten worse with the Duterte administration taking advantage of the implemented lockdowns. In other words, the pandemic did not stop him from abusing human rights. There have been over 27,000 victims of vigilante-style killings as of November 30, 2020. 8,000 of them are alleged drug suspects killed during police operations. How much more did these two figures rise as of this writing?
For some Filipinos, “some action is better than no action.” With Duterte’s goal to eradicate drug and crime in the country, Filipinos say that they can walk safer at night and can feel even more protected. But not all agree, especially human rights groups, foreign governments, and even the United Nations. And why should they, if it hampers our human and civil rights? To restore order through the means of sacrificing our countrymen for the ‘betterment’ of our country? There is no due regard for the rule of law, due process, and the human rights of people. So, in what way does it make our streets better? In what way does it resolve our country’s problems?
We are in the middle of a human rights crisis and it is high time to hold the Duterte administration accountable.
Silencing the people
To stamp out criticism of the government’s poor handling of the pandemic – and everything they do, the government accuses people, namely, human rights activists, union leaders, and indigenous people as terrorists or communists. They terrorize the country into submitting into law, especially those who resist government policies such as the war on drugs.
Last January, the Armed Forces of the Philippines published a list of alumni and academics from the University of the Philippines, claiming that they were deceased or current rebels from the New People’s Army.
More than half of the killings of 110 lawyers, judges, and prosecutors in the past 50 years happened in the last five years. They were silenced because they denounced the militarized lockdowns to contain the health crisis. As per the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, it has been established that anyone can be red-tagged, even students.
A question that needs to be addressed is why the Duterte administration is so sensitive towards criticism. Is it because they are afraid of a challenge? Afraid of its own people that brought them where they are now? But maybe because it is a shame for all their inadequacies.
Cutting off ties
When the International Criminal Court (ICC) started its ‘preliminary examination’ on the brutal war on drugs, the president withdrew the country from its ratification of the Rome Statute, a treaty formed by the ICC. He stated that ‘there is no intent to kill, rather, an instinct exercise of self-preservation’, and all deaths were only a matter of self-defense for the police.
Duterte even studied the matter of a possible withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council when it adopted an Iceland-led resolution seeking to investigate alleged violations of human rights violations in the Philippines.
It doesn’t stop there. Duterte has tested our foreign relations to its very seams to pursue an ‘independent foreign policy’, despite a bilateral relationship between the Philippines and the United States that dates back to the mid-20th century. In a state visit to China in 2016, Duterte announced cutting off military and economic ties with the United States.
But as reported on July 2021, Duterte restored the presence of US troops in the Philippines, stating that a Philippine-US alliance “will remain vital to the security, stability, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific,” with one of the goals to contend with China’s vessels swarming the Philippine exclusive economic zone.
Confusing, isn’t it?
With attempts to ‘please’ China, the Philippines left its doors open to the country, allowing flights from China during the emerging pandemic as not doing so will have “political and diplomatic repercussions”.
There is no greater lapdog than our very own president. He will question alliances, then reverse the position of the Philippines, and once more as if he were playing a game and the country was a piece he was gambling on.
Mismanagement of the pandemic
Duterte’s administration has faced numerous backlash and criticisms from the public regarding his mismanagement of the global pandemic situation. In early 2020, Duterte said that “there’s nothing to worry about this COVID-19 virus.” However, that is not the case. Months after the late-night monologues of Duterte belittling the COVID-19 virus and the pandemic, the cases continuously rose and the economy started to fluctuate.
The public emphasized the call for “Solusyong Medikal, Hindi Militar” as Duterte continuously deploys military and armed personnel instead of prioritizing healthcare workers. In just a span of 9 months of the first year, over 134,298 people were arrested for allegedly violating community quarantine guidelines. In line with this, the healthcare workers continue to protest and call for action about their late hazard pays. But policemen had a salary increase while our healthcare workers just received almost the minimum wage after working for nearly 24 hours and exposing themselves to COVID-19 patients.
Duterte’s administration also focused on the implementation of the Anti-Terror Law (ATL) during the heightened social media call-outs for mass testing and proper contact tracing. The pandemic has brought a lot of critics calling out the government for their ill pandemic response. In return, the administration chose to silence them through the ATL and failed to adhere to the call of constituents.
Multiple sectors flagged for corruption
The government also allotted a whopping budget of PHP 389 million for the beautification of Manila bay. Scientists, critics, and the public called out the government for this. Instead of allocating funds for a dolomite sand that was immediately crushed and washed away after Typhoon Rolly hit, the government must first use the funds to purchase and develop more COVID-19 testing kits in order to implement free mass testing –– or better yet, to compensate for our frontliners and upgrade hospitals.
In these recent events, everyone is wondering: what is the government’s priority? Why does it seem like they are taking advantage of this pandemic to establish their own name? Maybe the answer will be brought into light on or before the 2022 elections.
In the recent reports released by the Commission on Audit (COA), different sectors of the government such as DOH, CHEd, DepEd, and DILG were flagged for corruption. These reports caught the eyes of the public and received irate reactions and comments from numerous individuals.
Amidst the pandemic, DOH and PhilHealth remain as one, if not the most, alleged corrupt government institutions. Billions worth of anomalous projects and transactions were exposed. One of which is the transaction with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, where numerous loopholes can be found including substandard face shields, suspicious winning during the bidding, and the existence of a middle man.
However, despite the call from the public and other government institutions, Duterte remained firm and refused to remove DOH Secretary Duque from his position.
Critics pointed out that Duterte promised a clean and corrupt free administration but why does it seem like he is the one tolerating this kind of act? The fact that these alleged corruptions happened during a global pandemic where most Filipinos are not thriving doesn’t sit right — we must hold the corrupts and plunderers accountable.
Dutertismo continues to prevail
Someone in their right mind would ask, why are there still people who support Duterte?
However, Duterte’s never ending rambling speeches, trashtalks, and seemingly deliberate provocative comments seems to take a positive toll on his publicity. Recent Pulse Asia Satisfactory Surveys gives pretty promising results leaving his governance a positive feedback.
Two points to ponder in this is (1) Duterte’s tactic of instilling fear and (2) the wide usage of mainstream media.
Duterte imprinted this “kamay na bakal” persona in his administration. From the multiple threats to kill and jail those who would conspire to “destroy the nation” to the increasing accounts of extrajudicial killings from his war on drugs, people would indeed be afraid to criticize his regime.
On the other hand, mainstream media created a massive impact on Duterte’s publicity. Duterte was able to silence people from the media who opt to broadcast his futile administration— from Maria Ressa, co-founder of Rappler’s, arrest to the shutting down of ABS CBN. Media was completely controlled by the administration through spreading narratives of “fake news” or alternative truths.
What happens next?
In a government where it is show and tell, Duterte only tells.
He has spoken with nothing but empty words and promises.
Where are we headed? Where are we going?
We live in a hierarchical society where the gap between the poor and the rich widen each day. Those in the lower class, the powerless, are mere sheeps that must follow their shepherd. Our ‘democracy’ conceals this true nature of the populist and authoritarian regime that we are in.
When he stepped in as president, he brought in the tactic that named him as an ‘iron-fisted mayor’ from Davao City. He is direct; he says what he thinks – no more, no less. He doesn’t sugarcoat. And this received overwhelming support because he has shown his authenticity in being a voice of the masses.
But ‘democracy’ has been undermined and broken down. Our president does not believe in the need to uphold its values, or our rights. He himself admitted to killing three people when he was mayor and he will do it again and again if it stands in his way. He will not hesitate to declare martial law or a revolutionary government because this is what is said to be ‘necessary’.
Our countrymen have been serenaded by Duterte’s promises of change in our problems and his readiness to take on the challenge and provide an instant solution. His hypnotic appeal, ‘use of common sense’, and distrust towards the elite rich charms the nation have the people viewing him as someone who will save our nation.
But the problem is that he cannot save our nation. National development and security demands more than a president who breaks down our institutional and moral fabrics, a president who uses profanity in response to criticisms, a president who acts with impunity.
Our nation demands more than someone brave enough to sacrifice himself and his people for ‘real change’.
The myth of political will or Dutertismo, as coined by the general public, has been one of the most blinged up topics in national discourse.
During the 2016 elections, Duterte was able to win over the hearts of Filipinos for his undeniably strong political will to save the country but 5 years into his administration we came to the conclusion that his political will alone is not enough.
Let Duterte’s administration serve as a lesson that we must look properly into the candidates running for a seat in the government. Selecting one nation’s leader is indeed a huge gamble and riding the tide of Dutertismo is one of the most dangerous myths for our country.
As Duterte expresses his intent to “retire in politics” this 2022, we can no longer afford to be fooled by someone who lacks sympathy for his country, someone who sinks our country further, and someone who is a replica of the monster that took away our rights when martial law was declared 49 years ago.
Our nation’s future lies in your hands. Our hands.
Will we allow history to repeat itself?
With recent news of voters’ registration being officially extended from October 9 to 31, 2021, it is high time for us Filipinos to do our part to create systematic change.
Register to vote, and vote wisely.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images
