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A year of change

Published Dec 31, 2016 16:05 pm  |  Updated Dec 31, 2016 16:05 pm
By Yas D. Ocampo Illustration by Greco Milambiling d2 DAVAO CITY – In the first minutes of his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Rodrigo R. Duterte shook the hand of his nemesis Senator Leila de Lima as he headed to the presidential podium at the Batasang Pambansa. It was as if Duterte was nodding to his greatest political enemy as he headed to address Congress, and essentially toward six years of the hardships of being at the helm of a country: “Bring it on.” Duterte entered the national scene for the first time barely changed from his persona as mayor of Davao City for more than two decades. While initially promising a more censored mouth beginning Day 1, Duterte went from tirade against tirade in his campaign against crime, corruption, and illegal drugs to speech upon speech bordering on repetitive from the 72-year-old head of state. Classic Duterte, ironically bored of the long speech prepared by his communications team, immersed himself in another long-winding litany lasting hours during the SONA. MAN OF THE YEAR President, Duterte’s biggest advocy for the Philippines is his war on drugs.  (Photos courtesy of News And Information Bureau Malacañang) MAN OF THE YEAR
President, Duterte’s biggest advocy for the Philippines is his war on drugs. (Photos courtesy of News And Information Bureau Malacañang) But this time, where previous Presidents boasted of achievement, and administrations regularly blamed previous administrations, here was a leader who appeared to speak the language of the streets. The speech partly boastful, mostly blatant, no-holds barred, this was the first time Filipinos seemed to really listen to a SONA spoken by a potty-mouthed yet revered leader winning in an overwhelming mandate earlier this year. Here was a leader who appeared to speak to its people. The once reluctant candidate had the eyes of national and international media as a rising star among traditional names in the political arena. But this was not always the case. In the years leading to the May 2016 elections, Duterte was barely a name heard on national news, except for a couple of times his policy statements would somehow make the national airwaves. The primary names appeared to be Liberal party bet Mar Roxas, Senator Grace Poe, Jejomar Binay, and the late Miriam Defensor Santiago. Duterte’s name was barely a threat to the names on the list. But in 2014, Duterte appeared before the Senate, during the investigation of rice smuggling cases being investigated by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs. It was here that he made a bold statement to fellow government officials, in the presence, eyes, and ears of a crowd he had already endeared via media: “The trouble with us in government is that we talk too much, act too slow, and do too little.” The year 2014 was crucial as the first year Duterte’s name would be floated as a possible candidate. Davao City barangay captain Mar Masanguid started a wildfire that spread throughout the country when he begged Duterte, at times on his knees, to run for the presidency. Local media here at first found the gesture odd. But then the signs appeared to lead toward that direction. And so in the two years leading to the historic elections, Duterte went back and forth from seeking the presidency, ultimately testing the waters by going on a “listening tour,” to try to convince an eager public to push for federalism. In a sense, he was already promising power to the once-governed. Instead of promising a rule, Duterte appeared to echo the sentiment of a public that had to endure being ignored by Imperial Manila. But this “promise” of power distributed to the regions could take more years, through either a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly amending the constitution. WELL-LOVED Sixteen million Filipinos voted for Rodrigo Duterte to become the President for the Republic of the Philippines WELL-LOVED Sixteen million Filipinos voted for Rodrigo Duterte to become the President for the Republic of the Philippines But if there was one promise that Duterte appears to be fulfilling, it is the bloodiness of his crusade against illegal drugs. And the issue has become divisive. Even the public response to the President’s anti-war policy is confusing. While there is a side condemning the event, a recent Social Weather Stations survey appears to show approval of President Duterte’s war on drugs. Eighty-five percent of respondents to the survey were somewhat very satisfied about the campaign. Fifty-six percent believe there was a drop in drug-related incidents in their area. On the other hand, 45 percent of respondents said they were very worried a family member would be killed or become a victim of extra-judicial killings. Seventy-one percent of respondents believed it was very important the suspects in drug cases be kept alive. Sixty-nine percent believed the cases of alleged extra-judicial killings were somewhat or very serious. Forty-two percent were undecided about the truthfulness of the police in reporting drug-related incidents. Duterte has repeatedly claimed there have been four million affected by shabu throughout the country. His narco-list of politicians involved in the drug trade is eight volumes thick. The number of drug reformists who reported for rehabilitation to the government reached 800,000. On the other side are the detractors to Duterte’s policy of death for druggies. To date, human rights groups have cited around 5,000 alleged extrajudicial killings perpetrated under the regime of President Duterte. A self-confessed member of the shadowy Davao Death Squad, Edgar Matobato, appeared before the senate and claimed he personally knew of about 1,000 bodies buried in a quarry in Ma-a, Davao City. But even the Senate committee that examined the testimony of Matobato said there was no evidence directly linking Duterte to the killings. This echoed an earlier report by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) about the killings. The CHR, ironically, was headed by De Lima during the time. Duterte and De Lima’s statements against each other have reached international attention, with the United States and the United Nations consistently berating Duterte’s policy statements about the deaths of persons associated with drugs. The trouble with this situation is that Duterte and the US were never friends from the start. In 2002, American personnel claiming to be from the Federal Bureau of Investigation pulled out Michael Terrence Meiring, whose legs were mangled by explosives in a hotel room, from a hospital in Davao City. Duterte has publicly expressed his outrage about the incident, asking how the United States could condone the criminal activity of one of its citizens. Duterte, who fancies himself a Leftist, even went as far as claiming that Meiring was an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2013, Duterte refused the US once more, with the Western superpower asking Duterte to let the US Air Force use the old airport in Sasa as a staging ground for drone operations. “I do not want it,” Duterte was quoted as saying. And for good reason. The US’s own war on terror during the time was targeting Islamic insurgents and terrorist groups suspected to be part of the Al Qaeda network, which perpetrated the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Duterte would not have any of it, refusing to be part of the killing of more Filipinos. In 2016, Duterte was quick to point out the presence of both terrorist and US special forces alike in Mindanao. Duterte’s departure from a century-old traditional alliance with the US has had little effect to his diplomatic ties with other countries. In fact, Duterte has forged new alliances with Moscow and Beijing, forming an economic pact with the US’s current diplomatic sparring partners in the midst of threats of a pullout from the US. In the first few months of Duterte’s administration alone, he has visited numerous countries: Laos and Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei and China, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia, Peru, Cambodia, and Singapore. It was the President making friends with his neighbors and new friends, and, to an audience the world over making it known that geopolitical relations are no longer the same, with eyes now on the Philippines like never before. In Mindanao, there is peace like never before between the government, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Moro National Liberation Front, and the New People’s Army. Duterte’s first months into the presidency, whichever political color one belongs to, appears to say “look here, this way, to this part of the world for a change.” Perlas ng Silangan.
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