Strongmen

Considering the long friendships and personalities involved, people were betting that President Duterte would not fire his secretary of tourism, despite all the controversies that had hounded her and her department in less than two years.

When the President let go of his first tourism secretary yesterday, it became the latest affirmation of his firm hand in governance.

There are Filipinos who have a low opinion of people who abandon friends in need. Others, however, consider this a virtue especially among government officials, particularly when the friendship is abused, and especially at public expense.

If this readiness to fire erring officials is the mark of a strongman, then President Duterte will surely accept the tag gladly.

Yesterday he expressed irritation at being described as a strongman, in the sense that the concept is being used in the western media, with the world’s strongmen seen to be undermining democracy.

The circumstances are different and the comparisons of course cannot be completely accurate: Dirty Rody is not like his “idol,” Russia’s Vladimir Putin, or Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungary’s Viktor Orban. The Time magazine article described a strongman as a political leader who rules by force of will and character or by military power.

Duterte is in power because he won by a landslide in free elections on a platform of firm governance, and reputable surveys show that he continues to enjoy substantial public support. He is in power through the democratic process. He imposed martial law in Marawi and has extended it for a year in the entire Mindanao, but people have largely forgotten about it, thanks to the generally professional behavior of the military.

Even Duterte’s short cuts in law enforcement clearly enjoy public support, or he would not have won the presidency on a platform of killing troublemakers. He’s had a long track record of meaning the threat literally.

If democracy is being threatened in the Philippines with the rise of Duterte, it is with the approval of the majority.

* * * The Singaporeans, who sprinted toward tiger economy status under their benevolent authoritarian founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, prefer to describe it as strong government rather than strongman rule, with economic rights given priority over certain civil liberties.

For the Singaporeans, strong government also means efficient government. Lee focused on structural reforms, creating a merit-based society where the rule of law prevails, where there is no need for “facilitation fees” to grease the wheels of government. While western democracies considered some of Singapore’s laws and penalties as extreme, dated or laughable, the city-state also developed a reputation for transparency in governance, ease in doing business, a strong judiciary and effective law enforcement.

Singapore, the funny little country where chewing gum in public is banned and you are fined for not flushing the toilet, left democratic Philippines eating its dust in terms of economic progress.

Malaysia also flourished under strongman Mahathir Mohamad, who may soon return to power with the support of his former nemesis Anwar Ibrahim. South Korea, before becoming fully democratic, rapidly industrialized under dictator Park Chung-hee, who was in power for 16 years until he was assassinated.

Seeing our neighbors overtaking the Philippines in terms of economic development, I’ve heard a number of prominent Filipinos over the years lament that we have too much freedom, and we got the wrong strongman.

* * * Is Duterte the right strongman for the Philippines? I’m guessing that if he botches his presidency, we will again swing to the other side of the pendulum and pick a champion of civil liberties in the next general elections.

For now, however, Filipinos are still watching what Duterte will do with his landslide win and his still considerable popularity, besides delivering on his promise of having criminals killed. Will the killings ever move from penny ante drug pushers to large-scale thieves in government?

Asia has long been a bastion of strongmen. This tradition is nourished by cultures that defer to authority and like strong figures who are in control and can provide for everyone’s needs like benevolent parents.

Many of Asia’s strongmen, however, validated Lord Acton’s observation that absolute power corrupts absolutely. They were tossed out by the people, and replaced with individuals deemed to be their opposite – persons who subscribe to democratic ideals, to the free market of goods and ideas.

Democracy, as has often been pointed out, of course, is not an ideal system, and making it work is a continuing effort even in the advanced economies and democratic states.

In our weak republic, where the unprecedented people power movement that led to the collapse of the Marcos dictatorship was not matched by a zealous post-revolutionary effort to rebuild and strengthen democratic institutions, wealth and power simply changed hands within the same blessed circle of people born with the right surname.

It was just a matter of time before Filipinos started agreeing with some of Asia’s strongmen that the Philippines was a good example of the pitfalls of democracy.

Duterte came along at just the right moment, when Filipinos were sick of the perceived indecision of Noynoy Aquino and his team, and scandals were showing the hypocrisy of the vaunted straight path or tuwid na daan.

The previous administration came to be associated with the insensitivity to the masses of those born to privilege, as indicated in the initial response to Super Typhoon Yolanda, the snubbing of the wake for the soldiers slaughtered in Mamasapano, and the unprecedented shutdown of the entire Roxas Boulevard and Intramuros so the power elite could meet and party. It was ironic for an administration that was widely applauded in its early days for banning that common symbol of VIP privilege, sirens or wang-wang.

Amid this simmering public resentment, Rodrigo Duterte, Davao’s city’s strongman mayor, promised radical change, and a firm hand in dealing with troublemakers. Filipinos embraced him, and looked the other way when he began delivering on his promise.

President Duterte has established his credentials as a strongman in terms of public safety. He has yet to do the same for strong governance.