RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events What's SOM's feelings on Duterte?

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Apparently, he's cleaning house like he said he would with extreme prejudice. I'm curious to know what the people think of him though.

Notice I didn't address SOM directly, so that means someone else can speak for him if anyone feels the need.

Lots of misinformation about Duterte on the two big media companies in the country (owned by oligarchs with ties to the previous administration), and the foreign news outlets seem to have picked up on it, and now all 16 million people (probably more, as there's allegations of vote rigging done by the opposing party) who voted for Duterte (I'm not one, by the way. I voted for another candidate who had similar stances to Duterte but didn't have PR problems) are seen as dumbasses who voted a mass murderer/chauvinist/potty mouth into office.

One key thing I want to clarify is all the summary executions going on.

Duterte took a hard stance against crime and corruption, but so far he's doing it by replacing key people who did not do their jobs, with people that he allegedly trusts (Not true. He did appoint a couple of officials that were seen as inept, probably because both are influential members of a party that can help him stand up to the bigger and more aggressive opposition party. The guy is smart. Quoted Sun Tzu's art of war at one time.)

The big media and his political rivals are attributing the killings to Duterte, without reporting that Duterte has also ordered investigation on the summary killings (it's always attibuted to the perps "fighting back" but nobody is dumb enough to believe that.)

What the media is not reporting (and what most Filipinos are not aware of, due to unfamiliarity) is that the summary executions are done in the style favored by the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, which has already reached our country as far back as the previous administration's start - investigated by the then-DILG officer and dismissed by the then-president, and again investigated by the succeeding DILG officer who conveniently died in a private plane "crash" afterwards (the pilot survived), his house ransacked by a police general and another DILG officer in order to "secure documents." The dead DILG secretary's assistant also died afterwards, this time through actual summary execution.

The spate of summary executions could be the Sinaloa Drug Cartel (or the Chinese Triads, which are also in the country) lopping off loose ends. Oh, and the police general who ransacked the former DILG chief's home - he's one of the 5 police generals Duterte named as protectors in cahoots with foreign syndicates.

As for actual accomplishments, less than a month into his term:

- solved the "Laglag Bala" extortion scam that plagued the previous administration with a single EO.
- implemented a national emergency hotline, similar to the US' 911 (we didn't have one in the past. Only his city had a universal emergency number.)
- his strong stance against narco, coupled with a low key response to the spate of summary executions, scared the crap out of thousands of actual drug peddlers and users. LGUs and local police agencies are dealing with pushers and users surrendering themselves and voluntarily going into rehab/reintegration programs.
- we also can't discount the possibility that people who haven't tried using or selling meth yet are less likely to do so now.

There's also the popular opposition bit where they criticize duterte for focusing too much on crime, as opposed to helping boost the economy. But the public seems to be behind Duterte, as the average Filipino doesn't really care about the stock market. All the earthworms that have been unearthed also point to drug syndicates actually having a far greater effect on the economy and the government, as they bankroll local government officials and police men who eventually rise to higher national positions.

The potty mouth thing is also overblown, and mostly coming from people in Manila (where I'm from.) Duterte comes from a region where people speak a different dialect, and the way they speak has a very hostile, aggressive tone. And they use words that Manileños consider as cusswords as interjections.

Most of his bad PR overseas is because the rest of the world are looking at him through the distorted eyes of Manila and its mid-to-upper class citizens.

Neil - you think he'll eventually allow his presidency to be passed along? Marcos was never too keen.

I have no idea. I don't worship the guy like many of his followers/fanbase, so I consider it a possibility. But considering his track record in Davao, he's more likely to use nepotism to keep his clan in power. He admits to being too old to even last more than one term.

Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up in the air (it did wonders for Davao, though.)

I'm not too worried either way. He's got way too many political enemies now that he's got very little chance of succeeding, and the Filipinos have already mastered the art of peacefully overthrowing unwanted presidents (to our detriment, at times.)

Also, the Liberal Party isn't too keen on giving up their power either. They're just using more subtle means (they get different figureheads on the seat, but the cabinet members and key government positions all revolve around the same people. Duterte was the first president to throw a wrench in that system.)

So you're saying he's probably not responsible for the deaths.....but is he using them to his advantage nonetheless? Like, insinuating without actually confirming that he's killing off drug dealers?

His bold statements definitely take advantage of the fear that the deaths have inspired in people. It's also not farfetched that he has something to do with the killing. Definitely not something I know enough to formulate an opinion on.

Right now he's doing things by the book, and has even handled the China territorial dispute much better than the previous administration.

And to address Dave's concerns, Duterte has a couple of key differences from Marcos. Namely, he doesn't have ties to big business or military upper brass, and he doesn't have an Imelda Marcos (his wife and ex-wife have no political ambition, and rarely even appears on camera). Those are the two things that really gave Marcos the ability to do the things that he did.