Duterte’s triumph for inclusion

Western economic analysts are puzzled how a country with a galloping economy like the Philippines has no jobs and increasing poverty. The middle class is disappearing. We have a few very rich, some say only 40 families, while millions eke out a living on the remnants of that wealth. What is wrong? The answer came with Duterte’s victory and the thousands who flocked to his rallies until its miting de avance in Luneta when the crowds were said to have been 1,300,000 strong. Unbelievable. But every inch was taken from Lapulapu’s statue to Rizal’s monument.

I call it the Luneta Revolution. We had never seen a crowd like this before, not even in Edsa. It was phenomenal. Others called it a miracle. Where did they all come from? It was as if all the pent-up fury of being excluded was finally being released. Only last year it would have been inconceivable to have such numbers in a political rally. Ayaw na nila ng politics. There is no change whatever politicians promise.

Duterte was an exception. The city mayor from Mindanao captured their imagination on how to be included and accompany his journey for change. That was quite a triumph. It is understandable that the enemies of change will relentlessly attack him, and try to bring him down, even kill him if necessary. The fight is between change and the status quo. He is the leader of change and the support of millions who had been excluded. The rally was not organized. It was a spontaneous event. In stark contrast was the miting de avance of the other candidates with more money and machinery who were simply ignored. Something strange did happen to force the inclusion of marginalized sectors. They said ‘ hindi naman magpapalit ang buhay namin. Hindi kami kasali diyan.” It is a sick society with too many people left out – the poor and marginal sectors. The inequality is masked by the old order saying that the wealth of the rich will eventually trickle down to the poor. That is not how Duterte saw it. He led the people not to harbor such illusions. He saw himself as the leader who will bring change through a new system that included them. To do that he will speak like them, laugh with them but will not hesitate to punish those who disobeyed the law. That is Duterte’s triumph – making inclusion possible so all might share the wealth of the land. We have former President Fidel V. Ramos to thank for to convince the dilly-dallying Davao City mayor to make up his mind.

“Hey Rody! You better do it or you don’t!” when Duterte was still hesitant. I was with a few of his friends and others in his office in Makati when Ramos talked to him.

“I do not like the way oppressed Filipinos are being treated now. Oppressed na, wala pang matakbuhan,” Duterte said in his local show. “Kapag sinobrahan ninyo ang kastigo sa Pilipino, I might just decide to run as president,” he added. At the time, he was weighing all the factors if he became a presidential candidate without money or machinery. Moreover it would also bear on his personal life until the former president convinced him. Richard Heydarin, an assistant professor of political science at the De La Salle University, called him a classical realist. “After the bravado, macho, jet ski statements during the campaign trail, Duterte is a classical realist.” When he begins governing on June 30, Heydarin says he will be more of a statesman “If you scratch below the surface, you will see that this guy really understands what’s happening,” Heydarian added. Take Duterte’s statement on journalists. It may sound shocking but he is merely saying what the public already knows. Stories that get printed usually depend on the vested interest of the owners of mainstream media. As more honest reporters will tell you “you can write the truth but what appears in newspapers have different reasons.” There is a joke among newspaper reporters and public relations agents. They call it “envelopmental” press conferences. Unless you have the proper amount in the envelopes your story will not be printed or else put into an inconspicuous back page. There is another hurdle to overcome and why stories change when these are printed. Some say there is still the desk, (editors and senior journalists) who deal with final copies to contend with, they say.

Reporters Without Borders would have done better to look into the context of journalists pay in the Philippines. It is probably one of the lowest in the world. Journalists are not paid enough that is why they have to make extra money from those who want their stories printed. Public relations agents or political propagandists make more money than reporters. Duterte was not endorsing the killing of journalists. “Even if you’re a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a bitch,” Duterte told reporters in Davao City when asked how he would address the problem of media killings in the Philippines after a reporter was shot dead in Manila last week. He said a journalist would be killed like any other individual for corrupt practices. Journalists who took bribes or engaged in other corrupt activities, but “if you are an upright journalist, nothing will happen to you.”

He is speaking in general. Each case has a context and as he correctly said they can get into trouble if he uses his profession for earning more money. Another saying about two timing journalists is attack collect, depend, collect. It is part of the corruption that pervades in the Philippines today. Reporters should be adequately paid. In South Korea, journalists told me their pay was equivalent to the salaries of their counterpart in industry.