The Phenomenon

Duterte rose to power not by a single stroke of fate. He is the outcome of a series of incidents all tied up together resulting to his name being catapulted to fame and earning the admiration of a lot of people. Today, no amount of “bad” news can dissuade his followers and admirers in believing in him. Never mind the continued exposure of the police engaging in the extrajudicial killing of thousands just because he had “waged” war against drugs. Never mind that his spokesperson, Panelo, claims that the spate of killings can be attributed to mere collaterals of a war we have to fight.  Never mind that he had continuously lambasted God in a country he leads, reputedly to be the only predominantly Christian country in Asia.  Never mind the accusations that he has already signed a pact with the Chinese to whom, it has been alleged, we shall eventually surrender our patrimony.  Never mind the fact that he had not made true his promises during the campaign period for the Presidency that he so boldly claimed.  Never mind that the country and the Filipino people are the subject of comedy in some American TV show because of the “not-so Presidential” antics of Duterte and his minions. None of these matter to his followers. As a matter of fact, his popularity has not waned a fraction but remained steady if not rising to even higher grounds.  The dismal showing of the polls in the last election is a nightmare. Most of those who won, did, because they were anointed by the President.  This is what I call the Duterte phenomenon.

How did Duterte rise to fame like this?  It all started with the big talk on how Duterte has cleaned Davao of scumbags when he was elected mayor of the city. By his own admission, he had eradicated crime in the city by executing all evil doers there.  Thus, it has been claimed that Davao is the safest place in the country now.  I shall leave it at that.  

The 20 year rule of despotic President Marcos came to an end in 1986 when the people finally decided they have had enough.  In a three day, peaceful revolution, a multitude of people gathered around Camp Crame resulting to the ouster of this strongman, banishing him to Hawaii where he eventually met his death.  We saw the widow of Ninoy Aquino claiming the Presidency with the delight not only of the Filipinos but celebrated throughout the world. 

But history never takes a story to be constant or significantly forever.  There is a saying, whether we believe it or not, that history is told from the point of view of the victors. Thus, the events in history, even though they never change, shall be viewed differently in another given time.  This was, to me, the blunder of the Aquinos and Filipino historians.  The Aquinos had been complacent that the multitude that went out in EDSA shall forever be there.  For some reason or another, the EDSA revolution, as we always knew it, have not been told and retold to our young.  The events that led to it has not been taught in schools, especially to very young high school students.  These millenials gather information on the internet, specifically one liners on facebook. (Why bother reading long historical accounts when one can read history like it is being told by a gossip at the nearby barber shop as told by the barbers and hangers on?) Soon, history would take shape in a different form. The Marcoses are not only back but even holding very important offices in government.  There have been allegations that they have employed the services of trolls and writers who will shape the minds of the young and make Ferdinand Marcos the greatest President there ever was.  Great! Before Marcos, we were at the brink of being highly industrialized.  We had Jacinto and Ysmael Steel, ABS CBN of the Lopezes, etc.  Economy wise, we were way ahead of our Asian neighbors by a long mile. All these until Marcos seized these companies and we have become poorer and poorer ever since. But I digress.

Cory’s presidency would have made us a great nation.  Other countries looked at us with admiration at the time. Cory Aquino was to be given the Nobel Peace Prize. The political scenario at the time was not as great, though.  Other people, notably greedy ones, wanted the pie all to themselves.  Cory’s presidency was beleaguered with several coup d’etats thinking she was a weak president and it was the time to grab power from her.  Miraculously, probably with the blessings of God, she survived them all until her Presidency ended.   Fast forward to three more Presidents and her son, Noynoy, assumed the seat of the most powerful man in the country I believe he was the weak link.  His presidency was a big disappointment. During his time, his cabinet experienced a lot of controversies. The MRT, the biggest mass transport, met a lot of problems that the government cannot handle. The LTO began to decline with licenses, plate numbers, etc. not being able to deliver simple service to the people. The comical way the authorities handled that hostage taking at the Luneta became a tragedy simply because it was mishandled from start to finish. The Mamasapano tragedy was the worst. Several policemen had been slaughtered without help coming from the soldiers nearby just because the orders were not clear.  

To me, these were the events that led to Duterte’s Presidency.  The people think they have had enough incompetence in government and the time was ripe for a strongman to effect changes for the Filipino people. It is all very simple.  Duterte put on the table a very simple equation that the people can easily understand. An eye for an eye, a tooth for every tooth. You did something wrong, whether true or not, you shall die. Regardless of the outcome or the consequences, the people should see someone hang. This unlawful, injustice is lost to a people who wanted to see blood for vengeance no matter what the costs.

And so, in spite of the fact that after three years, Duterte has not yet made good his promises to rid the country of drugs, secure the country’s territories from adverse claimants, he remains to be idolized by his followers. His seemingly “kill first before asking questions” policy, with the extra judicial killings, which he actually is very proud of, resulted to the wanton disregard for the principles of due process being expunged in the journey of the Philippines as a sovereign, independent country. His simple equation is so easy to understand that even learned men surprisingly succumbed to it.  Who would now  understand about the principle that the courts would rather let the guilty go scot free than condemn an innocent to suffering, even death, hence the term, “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” for it is all lost to the President?  Who would understand now that addiction is a disease, a sickness that should be cured, not condemned to death? Nobody would believe that to get rid of addicts, we must stop the big time drug pushers for until now, none of the big time pushers, known as drug lords, have been put behind bars at the very least. Well, there is Leila de Lima but I think that she is more of a political detainee for having openly defied the powers that be. Addicts should be put to rehab for they are sick. We do not condemn to death a man sick of cancer, do we?  A very long, tedious process but the right thing to do. We now have a President whose understanding of God, religion and theology stopped when he was in Grade 4. In one of his speeches, he called God stupid for not doing anything as He was at the brink of death crucified on the cross. All these become palatable to a people who has undergone too much incompetence, greed for power and suffering.

The rains, no matter how strong it pours and how deep inundation it brings, shall stop, too. Duterte’s rise to power is relatively very fast. And he seems to be unstoppable now but the world has seen the downfall of even stronger men.  Idi Amin, Duvalier, Pol Pot and our very own, Marcos, met an ending they have never foreseen.  They all fell down and even harder than any man can endure.  The world works in very strange ways and maybe we are being taught a lesson for we never have learned after all these years. 

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