US intelligence tags Duterte a threat to democracy
PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte is taking seriously the US Intelligence Community’s report tagging the firebrand leader a threat to democracy in Southeast Asia, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Feb. 13 report, titled “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community,” is bylined by Daniel R. Coats, who, as Director of National Intelligence, heads this community.
The report places Mr. Duterte alongside Cambodian’s Hun Sen, the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, and Thailand’s military- backed constitution as regional threats to democracy.
It also noted that countries in Southeast Asia “will struggle to preserve foreign policy autonomy in the face of Chinese economic and diplomatic coercion.”
VIEWED WITH ‘SOME CONCERN’
Mr. Duterte’s spokesman, Herminio Harry L. Roque, Jr., rejected the US Intelligence’s assessment of the Philippine leader as “myopic and speculative at best.”
Nevertheless, “(w)e view this declaration from no less than the intelligence department of the United States with some concern...,” Mr. Roque told DZMM radio.
The report said in part, “Democracy and human rights in many Southeast Asian countries will remain fragile in 2018 as autocratic tendencies deepen in some regimes and rampant corruption and cronyism undermine democratic values.”
“In the Philippines, President Duterte will continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption, and crime,” the report read further, adding that Mr. Duterte has suggested he could suspend the Constitution and declare a revolutionary government.
A leading critic of Mr. Duterte, opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima, had earlier warned that, under a revolutionary government, the military can oust its own commander-in-chief.
Mr. Roque for his part said Mr. Duterte “is no autocrat or has autocratic tendencies. He adheres to the rule of law and remains loyal to the Constitution. An autocracy is not prevalent, as they would like everyone to believe. Our media are still able to broadcast and print what they want — ‘fake news’ included. Our judiciary and the courts are functioning as usual. Our legislature remains independent and basic services are still being delivered.”
“I do not think that’s true. He is a lawyer, he knows the law, he wants to uphold the rule of law, he knows about the Bill of Rights,” the spokesman said.
This is not the first time the United States has criticized Mr. Duterte, who is notorious for his defiance of international pressure.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in what police call legitimate operations against suspected drug dealers and users under Mr. Duterte’s signature war on drugs since July 2016. International Criminal Court prosecutors have opened a preliminary examination into his anti-drugs campaign.
MANIPULATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The report also pointed out that “(d)omestic and foreign challenges to democracy and institutional capacity will test governance quality globally in 2018, especially as competitors manipulate social media to shape opinion.”
It added: “The number and sophistication of government efforts to shape domestic views of politics have increased dramatically in the past 10 years. In 2016, Freedom House identified 30 countries, including the Philippines, Turkey, and Venezuela, whose governments used social media to spread government views, to drive agendas, and to counter criticism of the government online.”
Mr. Roque in response said, “While it is true that the administration uses and maximizes social media to promote government messages and accomplishments, members of the political opposition and other cause-oriented groups use the same media platform to advance their agenda.”
“I don’t know of any government in the free world which does not use the Internet and social media to promote its agenda. This is very true especially in the case of the US. This latest intelligence assessment is a classic case in point.” — main report by