(We yield this space to the statement of the nongovernment organization Promotion of Christian Response due to it timeliness. – Ed.)
THE latest rant of President Duterte against Vice President Robredo for categorizing his statement as “parang extortion” when he publicly proclaimed that the US had better prepare to pay for the Visiting Forces Agreement reveals much about the mind of our bully-in-chief.
Democracy in the Philippines is on life support. Demagoguery and dictatorship have grown to gargantuan proportions. Is it any wonder that the Philippines, among peers in Southeast Asia, is marked for slower/slowest economic-recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic?
When Filipinos can no longer discuss, analyze and, yes even, debate national matters, our creative energy and collective knowledge and experience are undermined. Perhaps, many are onboard with Duterte’s dressing down Robredo. They may get a thrill, possibly likened to their father defending them by abusing a perceived adversary. They may even be drawn into a fray of jeers and taunts; some participating knowingly and others like children not fully cognizant of what they are doing. Unfortunately, this pattern of behavior is hurting us — this government is bullying, while also systematically destroying civil-society participation in democratic processes.
Our vibrant diversity and creative engagements are shrinking. We are becoming a people apathetic to the suffering of others and withdrawn into our own households. There is a very important matter at hand. Foreign relations do not belong to the president, as if he was king. We are all concerned. Lamenting the undiplomatic tone of the president is not an overreach of democratic discourse. The resultant bully-fest of Duterte may be within his right to free speech, but that does not make it healthy for the country.
Duterte has two masters, China and the USA. He is trying to get what he can from both of them. His display of bravado in threatening the US that they must pay for VFA may or may not increase US military aid to the Philippines. However, let’s be clear, the Duterte administration is also puppying after China. How the Philippines engages in regional and world dynamics affects us all.
We must not behave like serfs and peons of “feeling King” Duterte and his henchmen, who misconstrue lines of the Constitution as indicative of divine right. There is a sliver of truth in Duterte’s rants, namely, that we are between two world powers and that he is impotent in asserting our sovereignty in the most important matters. Unfortunately, he consistently pivots from this emasculation to look for a scapegoat from amongst his kababayan. This is not a new phenomenon; anthropologists have studied scapegoating among oppressed peoples. His flaccid condition, in protecting the nation from foreign control, fuels him to turn and abuse the woman near to him, hoping to mask his powerlessness.
Make no mistake: we are at risk for further exploitation, invasion, and military conflict from both China and the US. President Duterte has told us that the USA is building up arsenals in depots around the country. China has built military installations in our West Philippine Sea. We should be talking about this and thinking creatively on how to defend and strengthen Philippine sovereignty.
Public participation in dynamic discussions could go a long way in revitalizing our democracy. Bullying is counter-productive. Democracy, not dictatorship, is what we need.
