Duterte, Overseas Filipino Workers, and the Ethics of Representation

Abstract

Codex 13 Figure 2. Online version of a photograph of Grace de Guzman. Photograph courtesy of Eloisa Lopez. Duterte, Overseas Filipino Workers, and the Ethics of Representation Ethel Tungohan Although the problem persists I really do believe the photographs put a face to the numbers. They allowed more people to witness the harrowing things we saw. More organizations were spurred to action from the reporting. None of this would have come to light if not for the very first wave of local reporters saying: this really is happening. —­ Hannah Reyes Morales, “Coming Home to Cover Duterte’s Deadly Drug War” Consisting primarily of former and current migrant workers who came to Canada under the low-­ skilled Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP), members of the Filipino diaspora in Edmonton, Alberta, have oftentimes expressed to me their disillusionment with the way politics was conducted back home, the economic conditions that led them to 14 Codex seek jobs abroad in the first place, and the sacrifices they underwent in Canada. Living and working in Canada did not mean that they were uninvolved with events in the Philippines. On the contrary, being migrant workers abroad with obligations to send remittances to family and other loved ones in the Philippines meant that they maintained transnational ties. I actually first heard about Rodrigo Duterte first announcing his candidacy for president from them. Despite favorable media depictions of the progress former president Benigno Aquino Jr. has made, which included “rapid economic growth of 6.9% and improved performance in global competitiveness rankings (from 86th place to 47th)” (Curato 2017, 144), many of those with whom I spoke were disillusioned. The economic benefits that purportedly accrued under Aquino seemed to them only to be felt by a few, leaving behind marginalized communities that included Filipino migrant workers. Through Duterte, many Filipinos in the diaspora felt that at long last, somebody was setting the nation on the correct path. Stories of Duterte’s reign as mayor of Davao were shared with reverence. That Duterte also made gestures toward catering to progressive causes, including his decision to offer cabinet-­level positions to progressive politicians (Bello 2017) and his condemnation of “anti–­Overseas Filipino Worker” (OFW) policies such as Philippine customs agents’ tendency to vigilantly search the luggage of returning overseas workers to search for taxable goods (Ranada 2016), seemed to show that despite his blustering persona, his politics were commendable. In addition, Duterte’s unwillingness to kowtow to U.S. imperialist policies appealed to progressive members of the diaspora (Bello 2017). Consequently, pro-­Duterte groups mushroomed across Canada, as they did in countries where there were numerous OFWs. The explicit goal was to get not just OFWs but also their families back home to support Duterte. Interestingly, within months of his election, some of the same members of the Filipino diaspora who supported him started to doubt his sincerity. There were hushed reports of extrajudicial killings, of children being the collateral damage in his “war against drugs,” of police forces acting without restraint. Then there was the jailing of political opponents, the eventual ousting of progressive cabinet members like former Department of Social Welfare and Development secretary Judy Taguiwalo, and the unceasing attacks against journalists. More recently, Duterte’s statements that he was “powerless to protect OFWs” and his belief that rape and sexual violence were unfortunate yet unavoidable realities that female OFWs had to face (Aguilar 2019) caused widespread anger among the Filipino OFWs whom I knew in Canada, including former supporters. Codex 15 Still, there were those in the diaspora who doubted the veracity of the reports. The discourse of “fake news” became prominent transnationally through Duterte’s and U.S. president Donald Trump’s use of the term. Both disavowed news reports that challenged their respective actions. This meant that there was widespread confusion about what was true and what was not. Hence many Filipinos abroad were unsure of who and what to believe. The way Duterte supporters quickly mobilized against anyone who dared voice concerns about Duterte, with vitriolic and oftentimes gendered threats made frequently, lent a chilling atmosphere to political discourse online. And yet even members of the Filipino diaspora who did not know what...