Duterte News: Some Good, Mostly Bad

By: Bob Boyer

 

“Accentuate the positive.” That was my New Year’s Resolution a few years back, and I’ve found it helpful, so I was pleased recently to come upon some positive news about President Duterte, and that’s what I had in mind for this March article. By the time I sat down to write it, however, considerable negative Duterte news intervened.

The good news first. It comes from an exchange of emails between me and a friend who asked me about Duterte’s continued popularity. “It has continued as you noted in the high 70-percent popularity range. His opposition comes from the wealthy elites and a small but better-educated middle class, the groups that have benefitted from the improved national economy of the past six-plus years. A majority remain dirt poor or marginally so. They love it that Duterte has taken on the elites and vote in considerable numbers. The fact that many of the poorest who have taken to shabu, a particularly nasty form of meth, are among those being killed (3600 and rising daily) has not lessened the impoverished majority’s support for Duterte.”

“And here’s an interesting recent issue that Duterte has addressed. He is making contraceptive devices available to the poor who have previously not had access to them, largely because of the Church’s opposition. Benigno Aquino fought and won the battle a few years ago to legalize contraception. Even though legal, however, the poor couldn’t afford or get access to contraception, largely because the Church found ways to modify the law, Holly Lobby-like. Duterte is in the process of removing the limitations on distribution and has promised free contraception to everyone who can’t afford it. This could actually have a huge effect on limiting the surge of often unwanted and unaffordable children who frequently ended up on the streets (See “Philippine Leader Clashes With Church,” “New York Times, 28 Jan. 2017).”

My friend replied that he found it interesting that “at least he (Duterte) seems to be on the side of the poor, despite the not-so-pleasant free reign he gives to killing.” I answered that Duterte “is a complex mixture. He recently attacked the Manila police force for its corruption (which is notorious), but at the same time he is using the police in his violent campaign against drugs. As I said, he’s a complex mixture. Another positive note for Duterte comes via my nephew. He has a Filipina sweetheart whom he has visited there half a dozen times, most recently in early February (he is trying to get her a visa to come to the U.S). She says that it is “actually safe now” to go out on the street at night in her hometown, where my nephew was visiting, because of the campaign against drug users and dealers. She is certified as a middle-school teacher but works as a maid because it pays better. She is a Duterte fan.”

The above correspondence took place Feb. 9 and 10. Unfortunately just about all my news from late February is bad. First there is the “New York Times” Feb. 24 article, “Filipino Senator, Foe of Duterte, Accused of Graft.” I have been following this Senator, Leila De Lima, since Duterte was elected. She has been courageously outspoken about his administration, particularly the vigilante (“extrajudicial”) killings brought about by the president’s extreme measures in his war on drugs. A Philippine court has just ordered her arrest on charges brought by a friend of the president’s, in fact a former fraternity brother of Duterte’s.

At about the same time as news of this court order broke, a number of my Filipino friends became noticeably more critical of Duterte on Facebook. Here are three recent samples.

1) A ‘shared’ headline and explanation: “Rodrigo Duterte’s next target: 9-Year-old Children.” Duterte is backing legislation to “lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 9” so the police can with impunity “target suspects who still had baby teeth.” (Feb. 26)

2) “I don’t recall any other administration which made so many mistakes, and got trapped in so many falsehoods . . . and had to contradict itself so many times so early in the game. Shape up or ship out, you guys!” (Feb. 29)

3) “Arrived home from Bicol to find out someone was shot dead just outside our subdivision barely 30 minutes ago.” (Feb. 26)

Accentuating the positive is not always easy, but I’ll keep trying, and hoping. Contact Bob Boyer at Robert.boyer@snc.edu.