The once effective use of press releases and nightly addresses has now devolved into President Rodrigo Duterte’s main platform for spewing ad hominems and childish insults at his political rivals, critics, and even the general public. They are no longer filled with hope, but with pointless gaslighting, mudslinging, and death threats to anyone who dare express even the slightest disapproval of the regime’s failed pandemic response.
Instead of relying on facts and figures about the state of public health, we are now more likely to hear pronouncements from the president such as “Ang advice ko sa iyo, magpapayat ka muna para medyo.. nalilipong ako pag tinitingnan kita p–ang— ‘Wag mo putulin yan ah totoo ‘yan,” [My advice for you, is to lose weight first, because…you are dizzying to look at…Don’t cut that out of the speech, because it is true.], or even “My daughter is not running. I have told Inday not to run because I pity (her) knowing she will have to go through what I am going through…This is not for women. You know, the emotional set-up of a woman and a man is totally different”.
We are now more likely to hear what is basically a cheesy soap opera than coherent and useful updates on the pandemic, despite the country having been under lockdown for more than 500 days. The Duterte administration’s focus is ultimately on political alliances, elections, and keeping the president out of prison once he steps down, distracting the public from the issues that affect the masses. These tactics poison the public consciousness and seek to cover up the horrific mismanagement of the pandemic.
There are many instances of such diversions being used to derail discussions about the pandemic response, all involving parties and politicians that are opposed, or even allied with the regime. One of them is Vice President Leni Robredo, whose office Duterte has repeatedly attacked and tagged as “subversive” simply for having opinions that differ from the regime or offering some much-needed help.
The president responded to Robredo’s criticisms of the government’s vaccine choices earlier this year: “Just maybe shut up”, then a couple of days later, he followed up with “…mamatay ka na…”[You should just die.]
Even during calamities, the president did not refrain from his nastiness and misogyny. “Do not compete with me,” he directed at Vice President Robredo in response to her questioning his whereabouts during the chaos that was the botched government response to Typhoon Ulysses. All the while, Robredo’s office was carrying out relief operations and donations in the affected areas across the Eastern Philippines.
The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is in a unique situation in comparison to other political figures that are actively slammed by the regime, as it is disadvantaged by the constitutionally approved “lack of responsibility” in comparison to the Office of the President. Much flack is given to the OVP for doing both “nothing”, yet at the same time, doing “too much”. There is seemingly no winning for this office, as it is often blamed for doing too little, as well as doing too much to the point it is told that it is “stepping out of line”.
In addition to Robredo, another politician known to be in opposition to the current administration has been Isko Moreno Domagoso, the mayor of the City of Manila. Many of the attacks made against him have been aimed at his style of administration, as well as his past as an actor, all occurring at the same time as the state of the City of Manila’s pandemic response was one of the best in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Duterte’s calling out the management of Manila’s vaccination drive was meant to show that Moreno is not doing a “good” job as Mayor of the capital city.
“…May isa akong siyudad diyan na hindi ko bibigyan ng power to distribute ‘yung ayuda simply because in so many instances, they cannot organize a… Wala, talagang every time,”[…there is a city that I will no longer give the authority to distribute government aid simply because in so many instances, they cannot organize a… Nothing, It doesn’t work everytime.] Duterte said in a press release regarding the distribution of cash aid in Metro Manila Though he did not specifically name Manila as the city he was talking about, Duterte had been speaking ill of Moreno as of late
These attacks, as well as the attacks on the morality of Isko Moreno’s past roles as an actor, occurred amid a vaccine shortage that has led to many long lines and much disappointment. In addition, these pointless attacks occurred as disdain grew among the country’s health workers due to the government’s failure to give their salaries and other benefits on time
The Duterte regime is no stranger to the use of diversionary tactics to attack its critics. Public disagreements have occurred due to the President’s public addresses and press releases, through third parties such as the Presidential Spokesperson, or even other government agencies.
One such instance of this occurred during the continuing public disagreement between President Rodrigo Duterte, and known former ally, Senator Manny Pacquiao, wherein the latter accused the administration of deep-seated corruption that only benefits those in power, while putting the common folk in a position to be exploited by the state.
“Mag-aral ka nang husto”[You should study well.] Duterte said, directed at Pacquiao, in response to the Senator’s claim that the administration abandoned the arbitral win over the sovereignty of the West Philippine Sea and the Kalayaan Islands in Palawan.
“Go to Congress and start talking…If you will fail to do that, I will campaign against you…I will just tell the people, ‘Do not vote for Pacquiao because he is a liar.’” Duterte said in response to the Senator claiming that should he be elected as president in 2022, he will declare a war on corruption. Duterte seemingly takes this statement as an attack on the administration as a refutation of the Senator’s claims of corruption.
These continuous attacks against Pacquiao were made at a time when a number of Filipinos could not ensure that their hospitalizations would be covered due to the limited amount of money that PhilHealth would be able to cover, as the issue of the missing 15B pesos was still not fully resolved.
While it is not likely that the president planned to call out Pacquiao to divert attention away from the blunder of PhilHealth, as well as the mismanagement of pandemic funds by the Department of Health, it is a matter of fact that the situation made headlines around the country and surely took the spotlight off of the missing funds. People naturally paid more attention to the Duterte vs. Pacquiao issue, as it was what was the most covered, and most talked about by other political figures at the time.
Duterte’s personal convictions and prejudices for his critics prevent pressing issues that affect the Filipino people from being talked about, leaving us in the dark about the reality of our situation, and showering us with false hope and empty promises of a safe, post-pandemic Philippines. As Duterte trains his sights on 2022, Filipinos are still suffering from the pandemic and its concomitant crises.
We may as well declare the office of the President “vacant”.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images.
