The Philippines 2018-2019: Authoritarian Consolidation under Duterte (original) (raw)

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.