A picture of Rodrigo Duterte posing proud in his gun-toting, toxic masculine glory highlighted a 2018 South China Morning Post article about his drug war.
That was just two years into his presidency, and worse was yet to come.
Well, now it might happen that the “Punisher”, who promised that “The funeral parlors will be packed” will finally get his, if justice is achieved in the International Criminal Court.
While the savagery and scope of the drug and death squad killings command attention, other damage inflicted by the Duterte administration on this country and the people should not be overlooked.
Basic institutions crucial to democracy and good governance were seriously weakened, starting with a complicit justice system that filed trumped-up charges, and jailed critic Sen. Leila de Lima for nearly seven years, and with a Supreme Court that removed Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno who had spoken out on violations of the rule of law.
Once Duterte publicly called out to her, “You are now my enemy!”, the mandated impeachment proceeding was done away with, and instead, the unusual shortcut of a quo warranto proceeding was used by eager-to-please-Duterte Justices, the Solicitor General, and other legal luminaries who thus, effectively cancelled the fundamental principle of judicial independence.
Media — with crucial functions to provide accurate and responsible information to create an arena for opinion exchange and debate, and to promote accountability of public officials — was a victim of Duterte’s ire for its factual and critical reporting of the drug war.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer was threatened with tax evasion charges, the ABS-CBN network shut down, and nearly two dozen legal cases slapped against Rappler and Maria Ressa who, at one point, faced a combined sentence of 100 years’ imprisonment, not to mention arrest and fines in the millions of pesos.
Many Philippine and international personalities and organizations recognized this as retaliatory action for Rappler’s investigative reporting. Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters’ report on the drug war resulted in reporter Jess Malabanan being shot dead, with the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines counting over 20 others killed during the Duterte administration.
One crucial issue will not be taken up by the ICC: Duterte’s consistent sexism and misogyny.
Not only did he target accomplished women like Leila de Lima, Maria Ressa, and even Vice-President Leni Robredo to whom he showed disrespect at every turn, he constantly displayed contempt of women and a toxic masculinity.
While campaigning for the presidency, he joked that he should have been first in the gang rape of a white woman missionary for after all, he was the Mayor.
He told soldiers to shoot women communist rebels in the genitals. He recounted with gusto, and in detail, to government officials during a public function about fingering the genitals of a sleeping housemaid when he was a student. He talked about men like him needed a second woman, like a car needs a spare tire.
And other women-deriding “jokes” that his fans greeted with laughing appreciation.
A sense of decorum and respect went out the window with “regular guy” Tatay Digong, whose gutter sentiments and gutter language became acceptable fun for a large part of the population.
His approval ratings were, and remain high among those who were successfully mis-educated under his regime.
Duterte’s favorite expletive ‘putang ina’ occurred 21 times in a speech that I once forced myself to listen to: women are whores in the man’s mind.
The foreign press rendered this as “son of a whore” and duly noted that Duterte applied the term to both US President Obama and Pope Francis.
The Duterte nightmare also had to do with the shameful image this country acquired on the world stage during his time.
So now the Harry Roques, Robin Padillas, and other high-profile deplorables have flocked to his side in the Netherlands.
Never mind his fanbase in Europe and elsewhere who sadly don’t know any better politically or culturally.
What matters is that for those who care about human rights and gender justice, there is hope in the ICC process.
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Author’s email: h.cecilia7@gmail.com
