Former President Duterte has thousands of avid loyal supporters, even in Dumaguete and abroad, from Hong Kong to the Netherlands, the Duterte ‘magic’ is alive among Filipinos as he enjoys popularity until the end of his presidency, despite the alleged human rights violations committed during his term, and his controversial reforms in democratic institutions.
So what is the Duterte magic? According to political analyst Richard Heydarian, Duterte is the “Master of Performative Governance” quoting Shakespeare: All the world’s a stage, and one man in his time plays many parts.
He won on a platform of order and discipline. During his campaigns, he vowed to end drugs and stamp out criminality, fighting crime and corruption, and intensified efforts against terrorism and communist insurgency. Upon winning the May 2016 elections, he wasted no time launching an anti-drug campaign, which led to thousands of arrests and deaths from police operations and extrajudicial killings.
Critics condemn the illegality, impunity, and the anti-poor bias of these campaigns, which are now the basis of the charge of the alleged crimes against humanity, which he is now facing in the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Many Filipinos believe that this conflict stems the struggle for political supremacy between the Duterte family and the forces of President Marcos Jr., who were allies in the previous 2022 Presidential election, the Uniteam.
Political analysts say that Duterte’s allies remain the Marcos Coalition’s biggest threat in 2025 May midterm elections, as he continues to attract vast crowds of loyalists during rallies.
This is attributed to the heart of the Filipino psyche which has a desperate yearning for a “strong leader” amid a generational crisis, the need for a tough leader, a “father figure,” Duterte has succeeded in poking the sympathy of the nation because of his charisma as “Tatay Digong”.
These chain of events originates from the concerted program to erode Duterte’s political infrastructure, the neutralization of his ally former President Macapagal-Arroyo, the discreet accommodation of the ICC. Then, the dismantling of the POGOs, the online gaming operations that lured millions of Chinese citizens with new-found wealth to gamble online by credit card outside the long arm of Chinese law. It would grow into one of the biggest political scandals in decades, and would ensnare officials close to Duterte.
In addition to the demolition job through the social media is the smashing of the power (and the media network) of Apollo Quiboloy, the charismatic preacher who billed himself as the “Appointed Son of God,” founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and a spiritual adviser to Duterte, wanted by the US Justice Department on international sex charges.
There is the increasingly eccentric behavior of the Vice President, a phenomenon that has to be seen in parallel to the disintegration of the Duterte political machine. Both she and the President have kept things civil, with neither the President nor the Vice President directly attacking each other, preferring, wisely, to let things speak for themselves.
Will the “Duterte magic” work resulting in disturbing consequences for the nation’s governance?
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Author’s email: whelmayap@yahoo.com
