Duterte Research Articles

An Analysis of the Philippine Catholic Church’s Approach to President Duterte’s Drug War

Institutional clashes are catalysts for sociopolitical change, as illustrated by the five-hundred-year history of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. The church remains instrumental in the conscientization process after the EDSA People Power Revolution (1986). However, the challenge now facing the church—in particular, President Duterte’s “war on drugs”—requires a more resolute approach. This article examines the role of the Catholic Church beyond its institutional obligations. I argue that ecclesiastical movements in small communities, more than the pronouncements of institutional leaders, provide the moral voice for the church as it responds to the cries of ordinary citizens for social justice.

An Evolutionary Institutionalist Explanation of the Philippines' Militaristic COVID-19 Approach.

The Philippines undertook a “militaristic” approach to COVID-19. This has been attributed, directly or indirectly, to the strong political will of their current president, Rodrigo Duterte. Going against this narrative, this work presents an alternative framing of the issue. Drawing on concepts from institutionalist theory, this work argues that such a militaristic policy should be viewed as a continuation of the long-standing presence of militaristic ideas in civilian affairs. The dominance of such ideas has been normalized, not recently via Duterte but decades ago, owing to the failure to have a genuine liberal democracy after the fall of the Marcos regime. Overall, this work presents a historical grounding, using a new evolutionary framework, as to why institutions or policies — in this case the militaristic COVID-19 approach — come to fruition.

Parent–Adolescent Political Disagreement and Adolescent Political Development amid Duterte’s Presidency: A Positioning Analysis

Despite its significant ramifications on promoting youth political competence, literature has paid little attention to parent–adolescent political disagreement and the relational dynamics underlying the phenomenon. Our study deploys positioning analysis to examine how Filipino adolescents navigate conflict-filled parent–adolescent political discussions, especially those in relation to President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership. Interview accounts yield three storylines characterizing political disagreement episodes among participants and their parents: a control struggle storyline, a credibility contest storyline and a moral scramble storyline. Each storyline consists of adolescents and parents adopting competing positions to gain discursive advantages related to their developmental, rational or moral standing. They leverage these advantages towards influencing political opinions articulated within the family space. We conclude with a discussion of our findings vis-à-vis the need to reconceptualize political disagreement as a dynamic process, the interface between micro-level parent–adolescent political disagreement and macro-level sociopolitical discourses and the functions political disagreement serves in adolescent development.

‘Shoot them dead’: rhetorical constructions of the COVID-19 pandemic in Philippine presidential addresses

ABSTRACT Background This paper argues that public addresses of heads of state are critical for public health policy during pandemics. Drawing insights from studies that investigate metaphors and frames in political and public health discourses, it explores how the Philippine government, especially President Rodrigo Duterte, framed COVID-19. In doing so, it hopes to broaden the understanding of how political rhetoric may be constitutive of public health policy. Methods The analysis of the public addresses entailed three interrelated levels: (1) a description of broad historical, social, political, and cultural contexts of public addresses under investigation, (2) an explanation of the communicative situation including the production and consumption of these addresses—processes that mediate between the text and context, and (3) a textual analysis, which substantiates how the discursive patterns are realized through the president’s rhetorical choices. Results Our analysis reveals that the president consistently deployed the rhetorical strategies of (1) enemization, (2) legitimization of the incumbent administration, and (3) dismissal of critics. The configuration of these strategies sustains a binaristic discourse structure that lays blame on a political other while the government asserts its legitimacy during a public health crisis. Conclusions These rhetorical strategies organize support for public health policy by a populist administration to manage COVID-19. Implications of political rhetoric to public health and risk communication are discussed.

National Identity and the Limits of Chinese Public Diplomacy in the Philippines

ABSTRACT Despite a rise in Chinese public diplomacy efforts in the Philippines, Filipino perceptions of China have mainly remained negative during the Duterte period. This article examines why and how China’s public diplomacy efforts have primarily failed despite President Duterte’s pro-China position. It draws on constructivist approaches to demonstrate how national identity mediates the impact of Chinese influence. In particular, Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea, and an influx of China-based offshore gaming businesses in the country, have elicited a strong nationalist response from Filipinos, perpetuating perceptions of China as untrustworthy and threatening. Evidence is drawn to determine correlation between an increase in Chinese public diplomacy and a decrease in public trust towards China. This is followed by process-tracing how national identity dampens any positive effect Chinese public diplomacy may have on Philippine attitudes towards China.

Climate change, neoauthoritarianism, necropolitics, and state failure: the Duterte regime in the Philippines

ABSTRACT The Philippines is vulnerable to climate change and the natural hazards it has enhanced. The Philippines lacks peace, suffers from weak state institutions, and is a fragile state. Since 2016 President Rodrigo Duterte has embarked upon a war on drugs, claiming thousands of lives. This war on drugs is perceived to be a pretext for the establishment of an authoritarian government. The confluence of weak state institutions, a disregard for human rights, and weak public participation in environmental governance generates difficulty for coping with climate change in the Philippines. The intersection of climate change and state weakness is found in the violation of the human rights of environmentalists and the Philippines is among the leading countries in the world in terms of the number of environmentalists killed.

Fear and Loathing or Strategic Priming? Unveiling the Audience in Duterte's Crime Rhetoric

AbstractThis paper examines speechmaking on a contentious policy by arguably one of the most controversial figures to have assumed the Philippine presidency. Drawing on quantitative textual approaches on a corpus of 845 presidential speeches delivered between June 2016 and July 2020, we provide evidence that Rodrigo Duterte's evocative utterances against drug lords and criminals are not just deliberate illocutionary acts intended to court public support, but also priming tactics aimed towards a politically and economically significant audience whose acquiescence gives symbolic legitimacy to a controversial anti-crime policy. Using quantitative textual approaches and econometric analysis, we find that violent-crime rhetoric is more likely to accompany public pronouncements made before a political audience consisting of law enforcement authorities and government officials, as well as an economic audience made up of business chambers, overseas Filipino workers, and labor groups. Overall, the findings nuance an image of Duterte beyond that of a penal populist.

Persuasive agenda-setting: Rodrigo Duterte’s inauguration speech and drugs in the Philippines

Exploring the elusive agenda-setting hypothesis pertaining to democratically-elected leaders, we test whether Duterte’s 2016 inauguration speech systematically shifted Filipinos’ policy agenda towards prioritizing illegal drugs. To do this, we examine daily Google searches (in a country that tops internet usage worldwide) and identify a large increase in drug-related searches right after the speech, both in absolute terms and relative to other prominent policy topics. We find no similar increase in neighboring countries, for potentially confounding topics, or after other key events (like his declaration of candidacy). Complementing this analysis, individual-level surveys reveal an increase in the share of respondents considering crime reduction the top national priority. To better identify causality, we exploit the historical timing of local festivals, which left some provinces less exposed to the speech. Results show less-exposed provinces exhibit smaller increases in drug-related Google searches and survey-elicited crime prioritization.

Command Responsibility in the Times ofTokhang: Defining Military-likeness under Article 28(a) of the Rome Statute

AbstractPresident Rodrigo Duterte won on a law-and-order campaign promise to fatten the fish in Manila Bay with the corpses of criminals. By the time the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute, the body count stood at a reported 30,000, a fifth of whom were openly killed in Philippine National Police (PNP) anti-drug operations. Duterte has since been accused of Crimes Against Humanity,inter alia, as “a person effectively acting as a military commander” under Article 28(a) of the Rome Statute for failing to prevent, repress, and report the crimes of his police subordinates. This study tests the veracity of that claim. It seeks to determine whether Duterte, as the Chief Executive and overall superior of the PNP – statutorily, a civilian group – may be held liable as a military-like commander under the doctrine of command responsibility. At the core of this query lies a singular concern far from simple: the meaning of military-likeness.

Mediatized Voices of Science: News Media Narratives of Science and Populism in the Philippines

ABSTRACT The news media are presumed to play a central role in bringing science to a wider public. However, the surge of antidemocratic forces helps illuminate the populist and anti-populist tendencies of media in demystifying science. This article shows that science and politics share an intrinsic affinity under contemporary populism. The digital reportage on the science and politics nexus uncovers media populism which largely crystallizes the mediatization of politics in Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines. A reading of science-related articles published by the leading dominant news media outlets unfolds discursive narratives that impact the watchdog function of the Fourth Estate. “Government science” mainstreams official State accounts including the anti-science sentiments of Duterte. “Reforming science” is a middle-ground, reformist-inspired narrative that features legislative and policy measures. And “alternative science” advances the voices of non-State formations and challenges the administration’s science agenda. The implications of these narratives on media populism are presented.

The Philippines in 2021

In his last year in office, populist Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte faced the deadly surge of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic. His government continued to struggle with the health crisis despite implementing one of the most heavy-handed lockdowns in the world. In his final State of the Nation address, he trumpeted his administration’s “war on drugs” and ordered the military to hunt communist insurgents and “shoot them dead.” At the same time, he admitted that he has failed in his “war on corruption,” the second plank in his 2016 campaign platform. His admission foreshadowed the biggest corruption scandal of his administration. The Senate uncovered evidence of financial misuse, particularly for supplies from Pharmally Pharmaceutical, a business formed just months before securing billions of pesos in government supply contracts. The controversy has eroded Duterte’s popularity ratings, but he has retained high enough numbers to leverage political support in the upcoming 2022 presidential election and deflect impending International Criminal Court prosecution for his bloody drug war.

The State of Economy of Cotabato City during the Implementation of Martial Law Pursuant to Proclamation No. 216

Mindanao was placed under Martial Law when President Rodrigo Duterte declared the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus on May 23, 2017 by virtue of Proclamation No 216. The call was made in an attempt to control the spread of threat brought about by the armed rebel Maute Group when they sieged Marawi City. Previous studies argued that a state is economically developed when the markets regulate themselves and the government has less intervention over it. It also concluded that dictatorship or strong political participation, when temporarily held, promote economic development. This study assessed the status of economy of Cotabato City as one of the areas of trade and commerce in Mindanao being affected by the implementation of Martial Law. Martial Law in the Philippines was always viewed as the military, headed by its Commander-in-Chief, the President, taking total control of the political power thereby inflicting negative impact on the state’s economy. The economic status of Cotabato City during Martial Law implementation was evaluated specifically in terms of trades, investments, local employment and tourism. Results presented that despite of Martial Law period, Cotabato City’s state of economy, particularly its activities on trades, investments, local employment and tourism, is high. This study showed that political intervention during the Martial Law implementation, does not affect the status of a city’s economy

A Crise da Democracia Liberal no Início do Século XXI

A crise da democracia liberal é o grande tema da teoria política do início do século XXI. Com as eleições de Recep Erdogan na Turquia, Rodrigo Duterte nas Filipinas, Viktor Orbán na Hungria, Donald Trump nos Estados Unidos e Jair Bolsonaro no Brasil, uma parcela da literatura especializada passou até mesmo a considerar como plausível o fim da democracia. O presente artigo defende a tese da existência de duas abordagens gerais sobre o tema. Uma primeira abordagem é aquela que identifica a democracia liberal como o ápice do regramento institucional democrático e que precisa, portanto, ser salva. Para esses intérpretes, o populismo seria o principal culpado pela crise da democracia liberal e por isso deveria ser extirpado da vida política. A segunda abordagem inverte o problema: se as instituições políticas estão em crise, a culpa não é do populismo, mas sim da própria forma de governo. O populismo surgiria apenas como um efeito colateral dos limites da democracia liberal.

A Foucauldian discourse analysis of president Duterte’s constructions of community quarantine during COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) first hit the Philippines in January 2020 and by March, more suspected cases were reported, compelling the national government to create measures to secure public health and fight the pandemic. In order to mitigate the spread of the virus, a community quarantine in the Philippine’s National Capital Region began on March 15, 2020. This study utilized Foucauldian Discourse Analysis in understanding President Rodrigo Roa–Duterte’s discourses about community quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Two of his press conferences served as texts for discourse analysis: (1) on March 12, 2020 when he announced measures against COVID-19 threat, and (2) on March 16, 2020 when enhanced community quarantine was imposed. Results showed four wider discourses: (1) Community Quarantine as a Political Device, (2) Community Quarantine as a Protection of Public Health, (3) Community Quarantine as an Act against Resistance, and (4) Community Quarantine as an Opportunity for Bayanihan (spirit of Communal Unity) and an Expression of Damayan (Giving Compassion and Support). Results showed how the discourses transitioned from community quarantine to enhanced community quarantine. The results are discussed in relation to power and social change.

Populists, authoritarians, or securitarians? Policy preferences and threats to democratic governance in the modern age

What really motivates the hardcore followers of leaders, such as Viktor Orban in Hungary, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Narendra Modi in India, and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines? According to standard accounts, it is either a desire for strong authoritative leaders or a desire to empower ordinary people at the expense of elites. Using the ardent supporters of Donald Trump as a case study, I argue that conventional wisdom is unable to explain important recent events such as the documented tendency of Trump supporters to defy COVID-19-inspired authoritative mandates to wear masks and socially distance. On the basis of original survey data, I suggest that the real motivation of Trump supporters and by extension the supporters of similar leaders around the world is an intense desire for policies that protect the insider core of society from the threats posed by human outsiders, such as immigrants, minorities, and norm violators.

Dali-dali at dekonstruksyon: Poetika at politika sa panahon ng pinagmamadaling pagtula

Abstract This paper studies the digital modes of producing and distributing Philippine poetry during the presidencies of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III, and Rodrigo Duterte. The corpus used for this study are various poems created and dispensed through online generators, single message service (SMS) or text messaging, and social media, Twitter in particular. Democratic access to these new technologies has given literary producers newer platforms to exercise creativity and to interrogate the times. Poetry production via digital platforms is both an exploration of the genre and of political praxis. This paper studies select digital poems traversing what Leonardo Dianzon expounded as the cultural traditions of panunudyo (parody) and panunuya (irony or sarcasm). Further, this paper explores how poets in this digital age have variably contributed to the literary continuum and protest tradition of the Propaganda Movement’s Marcelo H. Del Pilar.

Pisting Yawa Rodrigo Duterte and the Language of the Street

Pisting Yawa Rodrigo Duterte and the Language of the Street

Isang pagsusuring semiolohikal sa mga Duterte mobile game sa Google Play

With the rise of video games as a form of entertainment and of the freemium culture in mobile gaming, and within the current political climate in the Philippines since the 2016 national election, free Duterte games have appeared and are still available in Google Play. This study analyzed ten (10) free games from the downloading platform using Barthesian semiology. Mostly identified as shooting games, these games have four elements present. First, the majority of these games have created a myth of President Rodrigo Duterte as the protagonist of these violent games, a myth also created for the “kontra-droga” campaign. Second, several personalities have appeared as allies with a covert message of being in line with or supportive of the protagonist’s motive. Third, weaponry is prominently used in the games, reflective of the policies promised during campaigns and eventually carried out. Fourth, like other games, these ones use the icons of zombies, drug addicts, and criminals as the enemies of the games, alongside the icons of media, jail, and several personalities like Leila De Lima, Edgar Matobato, and Franklin Drilon. In this semiological analysis, the rhetorical strategies of inoculation, identification, and privation of history are employed to uncover the myths behind these prominent game elements.

The Future of the U.S.-Philippines Alliance: Declining Democracy and Prospects for U.S.-Philippines Relations after Duterte

executive summary: This article examines the Philippines' democracy under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte and assesses the ramifications of democratic decline for the future of the U.S.-Philippines alliance under the next administration. main argument The anti-democratic policies of the Duterte administration have subverted institutional and societal checks on executive power, threatening the U.S.-Philippines alliance as an instrument of U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific. Duterte successfully reshaped domestic politics to augment his regime's influence over the legislature, judiciary, local governments, military, and economy, and openly sought to jettison the alliance for closer diplomatic and economic ties with China that would help him subvert domestic checks and balances on his administration. To repair and augment its alliance with the Philippines, the U.S. must recognize that the country's democratic decline is highly unlikely to reverse once Duterte leaves office and should transparently develop policies to incentivize the next administration and policymakers in the Philippines to roll back Duterte's anti-democratic policies. policy implications • If Duterte's successor continues to consolidate power domestically by weakening institutional checks on the administration's authority and coercing political opposition into silence or compliance, military cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines will falter and create new vulnerabilities threatening U.S. interests in the Pacific region. • The Biden administration should reconfigure U.S. security assistance under the schema of positive conditionality to discourage further efforts to undermine democratic governance and degrade human rights conditions from the next presidential administration in the Philippines. U.S. assistance should also be optimized to support the Philippines' military modernization while prioritizing economic and technical cooperation to mitigate the challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, economic recession, and pervasive low-intensity conflict. • Whereas the application of sanctions on individuals responsible for supporting human rights violations can be a coercive tool of diplomacy in extremis, it is more important that the U.S. offer inducements for curtailing these violations through bilateral efforts to expand investments from U.S. companies to Philippine business, particularly through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Filipiny okresu prezydentury Rodrigo Duterte jako pole rywalizacji między Stanami Zjednoczonymi a Chińską Republiką Ludową

The rivalry of great powers between the United States and China embraces all regions of the world, including Southeast Asia and especially the Philippines. The President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte (2016–2022) at the beginning of his presidency started to diminish the dependence of the country on former colonial power the US and to improve relations with China. Duterte hoped for the increase of economic cooperation and support of Beijing for modernization of infrastructures. Despite some successes in his policy, Duterte finally started to search again for support from the US. It was the result of extremely strong links and dependency between armed forces of Philippines and United States and generally very strong pro American filling of many Filipinos, the second reason was slowness of realization of some Chinese investments in the country, brutality and aggressiveness of Chinese coast guards towards Philippine fishers, and probably also some weakness in Chinese policy to the Philippines. Finally, Duterte obtained good results. The US confirmed readiness for military support in case of foreign aggression (especially in the South China Sea) and China was involved in political and economic cooperation with the Philippines.