The coming vote for who will succeed Noynoy Aquino as president has started to dismay outside observers, perhaps for good reason. But while the country enjoyed outstanding economic growth overall under his tenure, inequality remained largely unchanged, while awareness of and outrage over the Philippines' implacable culture of corruption has steadily increased. Hence, Trumpism comes to Manila
Mar Roxas and Rody Duterte are on opposite sides of the presidential spectrum. On one hand is Roxas, a US educated technocrat and member of the elite. His family is pedigreed, both in the political and business spheres. The Roxas and Araneta clans are among the handful of oligarchs that control the country. Roxas has had extensive experience working at the national level having had stints at the Senate and the executive branch. He has the advantage of being endorsed by the incumbent, not to mention the full force of the Liberal Party at his disposal.
On the other extreme is Rody Duterte, a provinciano who doesn’t give a hoot about social correctness or propriety. He was educated in local schools albeit expelled twice for misconduct. Nevertheless, he managed to obtain a Juris Doctor degree from San Beda. Duterte is a specialist in local governance having served as mayor for more than two decades. He was congressman for only one term. His handiwork, Davao City, is a model city in many ways but remains underdeveloped, for the most part. He is the standard bearer of the PDP Laban, an underfunded party with a handful of members and a sketchy political machinery.
Pound for pound, Mar Roxas should be the man to beat. But this is not the case. Defying logic, the latest Pulse Asia survey shows Roxas trailing at fourth place with just 17 percent of the votes. Meanwhile, Duterte soars high at 35 percent. This, despite the blowback of slurs against rape victims, the Mexican people and the American and Australian governments. With just seven days before the electorate casts their vote, many wonder – why have the tides turned against Mar Roxas? Is it too late for him to catch up? What can he do to rally?
Now Rodrigo Duterte is at the top of the polls. His grassroots support is nothing short of phenomenal. Jeepneys are plastered with his face. “Du30” is spelled out in packing tape on the back windows of commuter vans. The mass of humanity who cheer him on wear t-shirts painstakingly hand-lettered with marking pens in kitchens across the country, or silkscreened on improvised machines donated to satellite headquarters. Small-time vendors who make a living printing campaign paraphernalia give out Duterte posters at their own expense. Media workers have left their posts to fill the ranks of volunteer videographers.
This is an electorate that has found its voice in the mayor of Davao City. His movement cuts across class, gender and generation. He is the champion of mothers terrified of kidnappings. He is the savior of the displaced in the war zones of Maguindanao. Whatever happens on the 9th of May, an angry old man from the forgotten south has already changed the tenor of political conversation. The tone is indignant, often violent, but it is hopeful nonetheless, and it has energized a citizenry once resigned to politics as usual.
He stands instead for the politics of the extreme. He says screw the bleeding hearts, and to hell with the bureaucracy. He voices the helplessness and rage of Filipinos forced to make do in a country where corruption is casual and crime is ordinary. Duterte has their backs, and he says the struggle ends here, today. He goes beyond anger, even beyond solutions. Digong Duterte offers retribution.
“Kill them all,” he once told a cheering crowd in Lingayen. “When I become president, I'll order the police and the military to find these people and kill them.”
http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections/2016/130266-rodrigo-duterte-rapture-imagined-president
While Trillanes has shown records of deposits in Duterte’s bank accounts over time running into the millions, in no instance did he say that P211 million had been “singly” or “collectively” deposited in the BPI account at the Julia Vargas branch. Not surprisingly, BPI’s response would have to be, “None. Nada. Zilch.” Duterte’s lawyer must think our comprehension of English is faulty.
Of course, Trillanes’ affidavit, claiming that a concerned informant and former Duterte supporter had passed on the explosive bank records to him, was just as unbelievable as Panelo’s ill-concealed verbal sleight-of-hand.
At any rate, the dark cloud of doubt now hovers over Duterte’s purported honesty and integrity. This leaves Duterte’s claim to the presidency with no leg to stand on.
After portraying himself as a potty-mouthed lecher and murderer and after having revealed his lack of diplomatic finesse and economic grounding, the only thing left for Duterte’s fanatical supporters to prop him up with is his supposed “incorruptibility,” as shown by his “simple lifestyle.”
But Trillanes has punched a hole in that, too, with a list of 41 real estate properties, including several condos, in Duterte’s name and in the names of family members.
Said one disappointed Duterte supporter, “Pu -- ina. Corrupt din pala.”
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=it-all-boils-down-to-competence-and-compassion&id=126962
Supporters of Davao City Mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte denounced what they described as “orchestrated, virulent” attacks against him, saying they expect it to intensify as the May 9 elections draw near.
In a statement sent to media outlets, Leoncio Evasco Jr., campaign manager of the Duterte for President movement, said both urban and rural communities are being flooded with posters warning people not to vote for the mayor.
“(These posters warn that) he will demolish squatter communities, that he will declare martial law and will do what the majority of the people railed and rallied against governments that ran back during (the Marcos regime),” he said.
Evasco said the mayor’s opponents are “using government machinery and resources to frustrate the will of the people” and called on supporters to close ranks and protect their votes for him.
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