The Early Duterte Presidency in the Philippines, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, Vol 35, No 3 (original) (raw)
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Introduction. The Early Duterte Presidency in the Philippines
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 2017
After only a little over a half year in power, as of this writing, Rodrigo’s R. Duterte presidency already represents a sea change in Philippine politics. Despite the personal popularity of Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III (who had the highest opinion poll ratings among post-Marcos presidents), Duterte has quickly replaced a “liberal reformist” political order with its emphasis on civil liberties, if limited political participation, with an illiberal “law and order” regime.
2016
Since assuming the presidency, Rodrigo R. Duterte has "stuck to his guns" in carrying out his campaign pledge to launch a violent anti-drug campaign. Duterte's presidency was preceded by six years of political stability and high growth under the relatively liberal and supposedly reformist administration of President Benigno "Noynoy" S. Aquino, III. What did voters find so appealing about Duterte given that drugs and criminality were not a major national concern until he launched his candidacy? Unlike previous populist politicians in the post-Marcos Philippines, Duterte's strongest support did not come from the poorest voters but rather from the elite and the middle class who most feared for their personal security. Although Aquino was widely perceived to be personally honest, his administration had become "systemically disjunctive" and vulnerable to replacement by violent illiberalism because its narrative of "good governance" had been...
The Early Duterte Presidency in the Philippines
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
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Bloodied Democracy: Duterte and the Death of Liberal Reformism in the Philippines
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
Since assuming the presidency, Rodrigo R. Duterte has “stuck to his guns” in carrying out his campaign pledge to launch a violent anti-drug campaign. Duterte's presidency was preceded by six years of political stability and high growth under the relatively liberal and supposedly reformist administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino, III. What did voters find so appealing about Duterte given that drugs and criminality were not a major national concern until he launched his candidacy? Unlike previous populist politicians in the post-Marcos Philippines, Duterte's strongest support did not come from the poorest voters but rather from the elite and the middle class who most feared for their personal security. Although Aquino was widely perceived to be personally honest, his administration had become “systemically disjunctive” and vulnerable to replacement by violent illiberalism because its narrative of “good governance” had been undermined, its strategic allies were w...
Introduction From Aquino II to Duterte: Change, Continuity—and Rupture
2019
Democratic practices of the Philippines, Asia's oldest democracy and the second most populous country in the ASEAN region, have been a puzzle to many scholars and observers of democracy. While vibrant in terms of voter turnout, civic engagement, and institutional protections, there are widespread flaws in Philippine democratic processes-illustrated by persistent pernicious elite politics, continued institutional weakness, and widespread abuse of public office. 1 The country's economic record is as patchy as its democracy. The long-standing description of the Philippines as the "sick man of Asia" has been rebutted by the country's rapid economic growth over the last decade (2007-17). However, with regular boom and bust cycles, and persistent deep-seated poverty and inequality-concerns remain about the equity and sustainability of this type of growth in the Philippines. 2 Built on the legacies of Spanish and United States colonial rule, the Philippine state remains confronted by constant challenges to its legitimacy-including Asia's longest communist rebellion, Muslim separatist insurgencies in Mindanao, and large-scale public protests such as the first and second Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA 1 and 2) Philippine's People Power Revolution that forced changes in leadership through extra-constitutional processes. 3
Weak State, Strong Presidents: Situating the Duterte Presidency in Philippine Political Time
The Philippine presidency is the first and most durable in Asia. As a political institution, it has been rendered enough constitutional power to have a formal semblance of a " strong presidency " but apparently not enough to totally control strategic interests in Philippine society. Applying the concept of " political time, " this article will discuss the rise of the 16th president Rodrigo Duterte within the cycle of presidential regimes in the Philippines. Furthermore, it will analyze the nature of presidential power in the Philippines by identifying the strategic moments that lie between structural regimes and agential choices. Lastly, it will delineate the emergence of regime narratives as " governing scripts " that bind together a coalition of interests within a particular institutional context.
From Aquino II to Duterte (2010 - 2018) - Book Contents & Introduction
From Aquino II to Duterte (2010 - 2018) Change, Continuity - and Rupture, 2019
The Duterte administration is often considered a rupture in Philippines’ politics. Yet, how different is Duterte’s programme of change from the past governments, particularly from its predecessor, the Aquino II administration? Is there a shift in regime orientation and policy preferences from Aquino II to Duterte? What will this mean to the future direction of Philippine democracy, its economic development, peace and security, and relations with other countries? This volume focuses on four critical areas—politics and governance; economic governance; Mindanao peace process; and international relations—to illustrate continuities or discontinuities in policies and governance of institutions to explain the dynamics of change in the Philippines. It pays particular attention to the crucial period between Aquino II and the early years of Duterte. The reason is that Aquino II represents an important period for rebuilding and consolidating institutions of governance and accountability after two previous tumultuous administrations. Yet Aquino II also demonstrates the inherent flaws of Philippine democracy and unravels the contradictory forces vying for state power that sets the scene for Duterte’s rise. Reflecting on the crucial transition period between the two presidencies, while also providing a much-needed update on the most noteworthy policy changes since Duterte’s inauguration, the book fills an important scholarly gap in understanding Asia’s oldest and most puzzling democracy.
The Duterte phenomenon as authoritarian populism in the Philippines
The Routledge Handbook of Populism in the Asia Pacific, 2023
There has been growing interest among journalists and social scientists in covering and studying contemporary Philippines as news about the controversial President Rodrigo Duterte frequently hit world headlines. Duterte, who has assumed international notoriety yet national popularity since his astounding election in 2016, is often presented in political analyses as Southeast Asia’s representative strongman in the recent wave of global populism sweeping democracies from the West to the East. However, as this chapter explicates through an analytical framework, the Duterte phenomenon as a case of authoritarian populism, in which undemocratic politics is gaining popular legitimacy, has its own historical and conjunctural particularities. Specifically, a dozen of key defining dimensions have become manifest—in actual, conceptual, and discursive terms—during the six-year tenure, from candidacy to presidency, of Duterte’s authoritarian-populist regime.
The Philippines 2018-2019: Authoritarian Consolidation under Duterte
Asia Maior, 2020
Philippine democracy has crumbled under President Rodrigo Duterte. This article reviews the main political and economic developments in the country from 2018 to 2019. It argues that a process of authoritarian consolidation occurred during this period. This is not the result of a sudden breakdown or suppression of civil and political institutions for democracy, as would occur in a military takeover, but of democratic erosion and deconsolidation, catalysed by a popular but norm-breaking elected leader. An unprecedented scale of state-sponsored violence, President Duterte’s so-called «war on drugs», preconditioned the transition from democratic to authoritarian rule. The Duterte government and his allies then marginalised the opposition and vilified the media, politically captured the judiciary, broke the prevailing norms against martial law normalising emergency rule, as well as withstood pro-democracy influence from institutions like the European Union by aligning economically with China.