Hail to the Chief! President Rodrigo Duterte

By: Joe Mauricio

 

The recently-held Philippine Presidential election can be described as anAMAZING election, with an assemblage of political talents unlike anything we’ve ever seen before in Philippine Politics.

Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Rodrigo Duterte are Filipino politicians who defined Philippine politics for decades, and in each of their stories and the races they ran in 2016, there is a very specific political legacy.

Political junkies will be familiear with the traditional story of 2016, that it represented the end of Philippines’ traditional coalition of political dynasties. But 2016 was the beginning of the country’s political shift to the right.

The 2016 election was also a turning point for Philippines’ political parties–a lot of turncoats going to Duterte’s side of the political equation, confirming the ascendant of the political right.

Moreover, the shift of political parties toward their more liberal and conservative wings did really begin in 2016 when new President Duterte took office. At first, the consensus had always been a bit overrated but there’s truth to the idea that political parties coalesced around a certain roles on domestice and foreign policies.

In many ways, this last election spurred the process of political polarization that we’re living it today.

Beyond that, you see 2016as the creation of new political narrative and new language about politics.Alot of these came from then-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who was the underrated politician for the presidential office before the Election 2016. He is an anti-elitist and focuses his message around the poor.

What’s happening is the shift from out of traditional politics to “out of the box” policies, especially in dealing with drugs and corruption.

President Duterte is playing on fears over crimes, integration and economies anxiety reassert themselves as the nation’s dominant political power.

But I think that these changes are more narrative than politics. Like Duterte’s approach to set NPA’s and Abu Sayyaf’s to a peace talk is a little overrated.

His blitzkrieg approach to cure what’s ailing the country was so intense that in less than a month of his presidency, he accomplished his objectives…. from environment, AFP-PNP, house cleaning up of government branches from corruption, plunder, and malversation of funds.

Because of fear, there were no resistance to his attacks. Drug addicts and users are surrendering by the thousands from all parts of the country.

During his campaign, Duterte promised that fighting drugs would be bloody and dirty. After more than a week in office, 40 drug leaders were killed, 5 police generals sacked and others accused of corruption.

Mass transportation dilemmas for years are now seeing lights at the end of the tunnel.

International travelers don’t have fear of bullets planted in their suitcases in the airports.

Like any other campaign successes, there must be casualties, but so far, there are none.

As the new Commander-in-Chief of the soon-to-be greatest country in Asia, VIA TIMES salutes you, President Rodrigo Duterte!