blowfish posted:

how old is duterte and will he give himself an aneurysm on air while shouting at traiturous opposition druggies?

Nyarai posted:

He's 71.

Also, Duterte's nickname is Digong. Can anyone explain why? Google's been no help.

quote:

A letter to my friends and family in the US and elsewhere:

Thank you for the concern, but you're being misled. (Now, I really want to know who that Filipina is in this group. She looks like the odd person out in a sea of kids. Was she the organizer? Very interesting.)

If the President is forcibly removed, please know that you will be doing our country more harm than good. Not only will you leave us a fragmented country, you will also leave us at the mercy of drug cartels which have run this country, and which are so powerful that they have on their payroll judges, politicians, and as investigations are being done now, allegedly the ex-Secretary of the Department of Justice (now Senator) herself.

There is also a chance that Mindanao, the second largest archipelago, will secede, and all peace negotiations that have been started between the government and the Communists in our country (the longest insurgency ever), will be halted. There will be little pockets of rebellion, and you will be fomenting resentment for the US among our previously US-loving citizens. We've been staunchly pro US all these years. If you meddle, not a few Filipinos will suddenly find themselves sympathizing, justified or not, with the countries the US has invaded to "save"; to question the wisdom of forcing a foreigner's ethnocentric view on a sovereign state.

You don't understand the depth of desperation until you've lived here. The things you hear in the news do not even scratch the surface.

We are angry, desperate, and frustrated, and we hope you can see that.

It will be back to Third World, most-corrupt-country-ever status for us. Forget about visiting this country too. Right now, there are improvements being done in our airports, only a few years ago considered the World's Worst.

You dont want terrorists? Please leave our country alone. Drug money fuels terrorism, and we haven't had a President who could talk to the militants and the rebels like this one could. Some parts of Mindanao have become training ground for future ISIS rebels. To stop this President's war against drug lords and terrorists is to sign your agreement that more powerful terrorist organizations can come to poor, disorganized, US-hating Philippines to harvest more willing bodies.

You don't know the scope. No news article has ever summed it up so you could understand the depth and breadth of the Philippines' problems.

Please don't let yourselves be used by those who want to wrestle power away from the President of our country, the only man with cojones big enough to take on not just the
ruling elite of the Philippines but also international drug cartels.

The TL/DR version of why you're being manipulated is this:

Rodrigo Roa Duterte was a mayor of Davao City for 20 years.

This is significant because Davao City, situated in the middle of volatile Mindanao, surrounded by areas (some just on the fringes of the city) that were war torn, impressively thrived and progressed despite its geopolitical landscape. It is also one of the safest cities in the Philippines, if not the world. Again, despite its location. Healthcare is excellent; crimes are almost non-existent; and citizens have access to the most basic of necessities. It was a better-run city than any other area in the Philippines. And anyone from Davao only had good words to say about their mayor, the best endorsement any one could ask for.

The rest of the Philippines wanted this, and Duterte was forced to run for President by the Filipino people because the choices were dismal. Apart from an alleged corrupt vice president and a newbie senator, he ran against the anointed one named Mar Roxas, who was the previous administration's bet. While the previous administration has its fans, the overwhelming support for Duterte--91 percent--means most people are crying for change.

You remember his predecessor? Benigno Aquino III was the President when Typhoon Haiyan happened. Do you remember asking where your donations went? Do you remember hostages from Hong Kong dying in that bus because of bungled operations? Or the news of our country's Special Action Forces dying in battle due to botched, ill-organized operations?
That's not even half of it. If you don't know that, I'm sure you know how notorious Manila traffic is. The chief who handled that told us Filipinos not to worry because traffic isn't fatal anyway. (A Japanese firm did say that while we aren't dying, our economy is, as we lose about 3 billion dollars EVERY DAY in the gridlock.)

You understand why people did not want Mar Roxas, who by the way, as the interior secretary, was "on top" of the failed Haiyan relief operations.

When Duterte came into power, he sought to dismantle the organized crime and corruption that have been the most prominent features of this country. The Philippines is run on patronage politics, and because Duterte was not an insider--he was just a mayor of a far away city, after all--he stepped on as many toes as liberally and with as much impunity, shocking for toes that have never been stepped on. He went after the most untouchable of our leaders: generals, priests, mayors, cabinet secretaries. He also has a dirty mouth--but if you made us Filipinos choose between his dirty mouth, and his rivals' dirty hands, we'd let out a string of curses.

And this is why you hear so much bad press about Duterte. Who was it that said, history is written by the victor? In our case, our story is being written by those who have the access and the resources to alter the truth.

He may be President now, but he was (still is) a simple, sincere hick who did not even have the support of local officials (necessary in a Presidential system) when he ran for President.

SO WHO STANDS TO GAIN MOST FROM DUTERTE BEING IMPEACHED?
91 percent of us can only hope to reach you this way.

This guy is 71 years old. He has nothing to lose (except his life, which apparently does not bother him) and everything to gain. He is fighting for the legacy, the bragging rights to say, "I cleaned up the Philippines."

What you see in the news, the killings on the streets, is not the handiwork of the government alone. As the President often says, what we're dealing with is not a crisis, but a war. And there will be blood. There is blood not just because of legal police apprehensions, but because the drug cartels are cleaning up after their own.

Our policemen are not provided their own bullets--do you think at a salary of 300-400 usd a month, they can afford to go on a killing rampage? Someone is bankrolling it, and it's not the government.

I agree that the President needs to make a tougher stand on the killings--he did condemn them but apparently not emphatically enough--and I agree that he needs to be harsher, but if those were his only shortcomings, to call for his impeachment, when he has done so much for the ordinary Filipino, is taking it too far.

Here's something to think about :

While we are a poor country, Filipinos are known to be a strong, united people. We are not ignorant, we are not stupid, we are highly literate. We have unhampered access to social media, we have scholars and students everywhere. The only times we ever needed saving are the times when our leaders couldnt do it for us, like Haiyan.
Since 1986, when we successfully ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in EDSA 1, the Filipino has believed in his freedom and his capacity to change the government.
Our bloodless revolutions have become iconic. We ousted one more President after: Joseph Estrada, for charges of graft and corruption in EDSA 2. We also sent one President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to "jail."

EDSA is a symbol of our freedom and our capacity to THINK FOR OURSELVES.

We are highly capable of OUSTING LEADERS we do not want.

So if we wanted to oust Duterte, we would be VERY CAPABLE to do it on our own. And it would be hell of a lot easier too. We would have disgruntled oligarchs on our side, and I am sure the drug cartels would even happily fund those who are corrupt in our military to stage coup d' etats.

BUT WE DONT. SO MANY OF US DONT! 91 percent of us dont! Because we understand our own internal struggles more than any of you do.

To meddle in our affairs is akin to saying you do not trust us to govern for ourselves, which smacks so hard of colonialism.

Please, thank you for your concern, and for the aid, but allow us to build our nation the way we think best.

There are dissenters,some trolls, but others very brilliant, in our midst. We have oppositions in both Houses, in the Senate and Congress. There is an ongoing Senate hearing on the killings, led quite ironically, by the woman charged of coddling drug protectors herself.

WE DO NOT LACK FOR DISSENT. PEOPLE ARE NOT DYING HERE FOR ATTACKING DUTERTE. There is NO dictatorship.

The original plan is to impeach Duterte, but because they could not find the support from the Filipino public--actually the opposition is very much reviled in this country, to put it mildly--the threat is to have Duterte dragged to the International Crimes Court, which means a regime change. One that we do not want and will heavily protest.

And you have become unwitting characters in a stage that has been set to make this happen.

YOU ARE BEING USED IN AN ELABORATE POWER PLAY AND YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW IT.

When and if we are ready to oust Duterte, you will hear about it. As I've said, we can do it on our own.

But until then, please respect, and please, please LISTEN to the voices of the majority of the Filipino people.

Thank you!

-Krizette Laureta Chu.


PRobably the best thing I can give you.

loving colonialists just need to stay away

Xelkelvos posted:

Less than 40% voted for Duerte. Majority my rear end. Even in US elections we can at least get within spitting distance of a winner having 50% (barring Electoral college shenanigans and third party vote splitting). Duerte got a plurality, but even 30% would've given him the same amount of power.

Nyarai posted:

Also, Duterte's nickname is Digong. Can anyone explain why? Google's been no help.

Sephyr posted:

Asked a filipina friend for her take on the issue. She e-mailed me this back.


Last two lines are her own contribution.

quote:

You don't understand the depth of desperation until you've lived here. The things you hear in the news do not even scratch the surface.

We are angry, desperate, and frustrated, and we hope you can see that.

It will be back to Third World, most-corrupt-country-ever status for us.

quote:

Duterte was forced to run for President by the Filipino people

This guy is 71 years old. He has nothing to lose (except his life, which apparently does not bother him) and everything to gain.

Sephyr posted:

Very interesting unpacking. Being from a Third-World country myself, I could recognize some of the rhetoric, but the background helps. The whole "you guys don't understand our plight, you arrogant colonialist/imperialists" pride gambit is really familiar. And given the West's history of intervention and favoring pet dictators, it finds purchase in a lot of people's hearts.

Bobbin Threadbare posted:

Plus, let's face it, an intervention by the US, China, or Russia in the Philippines could still end up making things worse.

Xelkelvos posted:

It could make things worse, or it could make a clean slate to try something new that actually works like in Nicaragua. Idk why Russia is in that list. Australia or South Korea would be more likely to try and exercise some political muscle to control the Philippines. Japan might too if not for the fact there's probably still a significant of sore wounds from WW2.

Sephyr posted:

Asked a filipina friend for her take on the issue. She e-mailed me this back.

quote:

. There will be little pockets of rebellion, and you will be fomenting resentment for the US among our previously US-loving citizens. We've been staunchly pro US all these years. If you meddle, not a few Filipinos will suddenly find themselves sympathizing, justified or not, with the countries the US has invaded to "save";

Last two lines are her own contribution.

Rodatose posted:

Last two lines are her own contribution.

Rodatose posted:

Did the Philippine-American War and its hundreds of thousands of dead civilians like, not happen, or what

Argue posted:

quote:

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he does not owe US President Barack Obama any explanation regarding the issues on extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses hounding his three-month-old administration.

"The Philippines is not vassal state. We have long ceased to be a colony of the United States," Duterte said at a press briefing in Davao City before leaving for Laos for the ASEAN Summit where he is expected to meet with Obama.

“You must be respectful. Do not throw away questions and statements. [You motherfucker, I'm going to cuss you out right there in the middle of the forum. Don't do that to me.] Tell that to everybody,” the President snapped.

Duterte, who is being criticized for his bloody war against illegal drug syndicates, also blasted unnamed columnists for acting like "lapdogs" of Obama and the US.

"I do not respond to anybody but to the people of the Philippines. [I don't care about him.] Who is he?" Duterte said before noting what happened when the US occupied the Philippines before World War II.

“As a matter of fact, he has so many—America has one too many to answer for the misdeeds in this country. [Up to now we still haven't had even a whisper of an apology from them.] That is the reason why Mindanao continues to boil. [You said], that was the last century, [that those wounds are] from generation to generation. As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States. Why? Because they invaded this country and made us their subjugated people,” the President lashed out.

Despite everything he said, Duterte clarified that he is not going to pick a fight with Obama, but continued to stress Philippines' independence.

“There are a lot of you so much about extrajudicial killings then connect it with Obama. I do not want to pick a quarrel with Obama, but certainly I would not appear to be beholden to anybody… This is an independent country. Nobody has the right to lecture on me. God. Do not do it,” he said.

“[You want] the right word? [We're going to treat each other like pigs if you try to do that to me]. I do not accept that preposition that anybody is superior that me. We are supposed to be equal there. My country might be small, hardly keeping up with the economic problems but I will not allow myself—[you insult me, you insult the entire Filipino people],” Duterte then warned.

On September 2, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Obama will not pull any punches on human rights during his meeting Duterte.

Meanwhile, Duterte previously said that Obama needs to listen to him and understand the illegal drug situation in the country first before discussing human rights issues during their bilateral meeting.

Despite the growing international criticisms against his campaign versus drugs, Duterte is firm that this war will not end until there are no more pushers in the streets.

“[If you won't stop dealing drugs]—the campaign against drugs will continue. [Many people will due because of it]. Plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue and I do not give a poo poo to anybody observing my behavior,” the President maintained.

"It will continue until such time I can proclaim to the nation that we are drug-free. And that is my only purpose in this presidency, so be it. If you remove me because of the killings, then it shall be so," Duterte stressed.

The President then turned the table and slammed the US for the supposed human rights violations against migrants.

"Everybody has a terrible record of extrajudicial killing. Why make an issue of fighting crime? [He can't even handle his own problems over there at the Mexican border]. Look at the human rights of America along that line. The way they treat the migrants there," Duterte pointed out.

Argue posted:

Edit: sorry about the compression but I disagree with Duterte's declaration of a state of losslessness

nopantsjack posted:

I thought this was from the UK daily mail. News and comment from the Phillipines is scaring me by showing what the dystopian future is going to look like. Oh poo poo, are we there already?

Schubalts posted:

Muslims, obviously.

Wizchine posted:

if for some reason it is successful

quote:

Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte after the latter called him the "son of a whore".
The two men were due to meet for the first time on Tuesday afternoon at the ASEAN summit in Laos.
A White House spokesman said the talks had been scrapped after Mr Duterte insulted Mr Obama.
On Monday, the Filipino leader called Mr Obama "a son of a whore" as he warned him not to raise questions about extrajudicial killings.

Azur posted:

So much about the meetup with Duerte.

Tarantula posted:

It might buy you some cool points at home

Argue posted:

It feels like surely John Oliver's team wants to do a full-length segment on Duterte

Y-Hat posted:

The first exposure I had to Duterte was someone posting on Facebook that his presidency is what would happen if someone based their political platform on YouTube comments. It's not far off the mark. How likely is a Marcos-style state of emergency in the future, what would start it, and how long would it take before Duterte says "gently caress everything" and implement it?

quote:

Duterte assured the public that what he declared “is not martial law” and that there would be no suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.

What it simply means, he said, is that more soldiers and policemen will now be deployed, government will set up more checkpoints, and impose, if needed, curfews in certain areas.

The 1987 Constitution allows the President to call on the armed forces "to prevent or suppress lawless violence."

Y-Hat posted:

The first exposure I had to Duterte was someone posting on Facebook that his presidency is what would happen if someone based their political platform on YouTube comments. It's not far off the mark. How likely is a Marcos-style state of emergency in the future, what would start it, and how long would it take before Duterte says "gently caress everything" and implement it?

quote:

MANILA, Philippines — Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo on Sunday clarified that the proclamation of a “state of lawlessness” was already planned even before the night market blast in Davao City.

“[The State of Lawlessness was not triggered by the explosion in Davao]. Actually, [that was already in the planning stage],” Panelo said in a radio interview with dzBB.

“In fact, [we were already drafting a proclamation before it happened],” he added.

Panelo said the executive order on the state of lawlessness would most likely be released on Sunday or Monday. Duterte on Saturday morning made the declaration and called on the military to suppress lawless violence.

The chief presidential legal counsel explained there were four factors that prompted Duterte to declare a state of lawless violence which include the anti-illegal drug campaign, criminality, terrorism and the Abu Sayyaf Group. He clarified that this state would be applied nationwide and not in just in Davao City.

“[The problems I cited are also nationwide. Terrorism isn't just focused on Davao. The terrorists are also targeting Metro Manila, and all the large cities, they're planning on blowing us up here as well. So why would you localize the declaration],” Panelo said.

“[The] drug men are all over the land, [and so is criminality so we really have to make it nationwide],” he added.

Panelo said despite tightened security measures, the public should not worry about a possible martial law and that the writ of habeas corpus would not be suspended. He said a curfew would depend on security forces while there will be increased checkpoints in various areas.

“[This is so that the President can use the Armed Forces and we would have a much stricter rule of law ... nothing has changed], our normal activities every day,” Panelo concluded.