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State of the nation of the Philippines' 82 percent

Duterte's overwhelming popularity amid mounting woes is extremely hard to fathom
State of the nation of the Philippines' 82 percent

Activists march in the streets of Manila as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his State of the Nation Address on July 24. (Photo by Vincent Go)

Published: August 08, 2017 04:08 AM GMT
Updated: August 08, 2017 04:13 AM GMT

If rationality still matters in this beleaguered republic of the Philippines, how have we as a people shifted once more to supporting a rising authoritarianism?

A recent survey shows that President Rodrigo Duterte is enjoying a high approval rating of 82 percent, a four-percentage-point rise from his 78 percent rating early this year.

People are supporting Duterte despite the debacle in Marawi that has resulted in at least 565 deaths, the displacement of some 350,000 people, continuing poverty, drug-related killings, the diminishing value of the peso vis-a-vis the dollar — the list just goes on.

Most of our legislators said yes to the extension of martial law in Mindanao until the end of the year. 

Is there logic in all these? Is it possible to mobilize theories and tools of social sciences to help those who are scratching their heads wondering how have we, as a people, shifted once more to supporting a rising authoritarian rule?

Senator Manny Pacquiao, boxing legend-turned-legislator-turned-"Christian preacher," said it is "the right time to give support to the government to exercise authority and power to discipline people."

"The authorities that exist have been established by God, consequently whoever rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves," he added.

A year ago, after Duterte's election, anthropologist Pons Bennagen called for the setting up of an online "people's school" for anthropologists to explain Duterte's rise to power. 

Now, a year later, there is a need to supply answers to the question: Why has Duterte remained very popular among Filipinos, including the nation's elite and intellectuals?

There has been no wanting of theories offered by a whole range of opinion makers who are appropriating theories from a whole range of social sciences. 

Historian Vincent Rafael offered on why we as a people do not object to the killings: "It is the logic of scapegoating … and lies at the core of Duterte's political speeches."

On why there is strong support of martial law and now its extension, Rafael said "the cultural logic of martial law is woven into the very fabric of social institutions."

He said "martial law is less a legal state than a state of mind deeply ingrained in even the most liberal of Filipinos who prefer hierarchy and authority as the guarantors of safety."

Ethnographic studies have shown that our pre-conquest indigenous communities needed strong, decisive, and courageous leaders who feared no one. 

Mythical heroes were celebrated in orally transmitted epics narrating how they vanquished their enemies in ways that were gruesome but considered heroic.

Such archetypes continue to appear at various historical junctures, including Pacquiao's epic boxing fights. 

The late dictator Ferdinand Marcos envisioned to be this kind of leader, but fell short of the masses' expectations. He died in ignominy, but his political dynasty continues to promote a revisionist history that trumpets "the golden years of martial rule."

Out of this mold arose Duterte, and many factors have also arisen to favor his rise to this mythical level. He has been packaged as a no-nonsense leader who is fearless with a tough guy swagger, anti-U.S. rhetoric, and an army of trolls in social media.

The notion of scapegoating as drug addiction is every family's nightmare, the rise of the feared face of global terrorism — ISIS — add up to the Filipino's desire to have a leader like Duterte.

For more than a century of being a republic, the democracy that our founding fathers yearned for might not have been set up on solid ground.

There is the whole myth of a nation-state as a bastion of democracy in a Third World setting. 

Following Benedict Andersons' notion of an imagined community, we have only imagined that we could be "one nation, one language."

How could we with the persistence of regionalism, the rise and continuing hold of political dynasties, weak political parties, and an electorate swayed by patronage?

There is one more angle that needs to be further explored. Why have so many intellectuals and social reformers who resisted oppression and championed human rights and civil liberties become part of the 82 percent? 

Among those who embraced Duterte are products of the martial law years of Marcos. They were activists who marched the streets, took risks, and suffered arrest, torture, and imprisonment.

They were consistent in the praxis of their ideological leanings until Duterte came to power. 

Why this shift? A very human explanation, perhaps.

For many decades, these generations have been pushed to the periphery, operating from the margins with little power, influence, resources, and fighting the establishment in the long haul. 

When there were bursts of success, new developments arose, cutting down on funding and mass support, and even the reality of aging and illness. Many were frustrated, desperate, and ready to give up.

Consciously — but perhaps much more unconsciously — Duterte offered a way out of this anomie. New hopes arose as activists found themselves closer to the center of power. 

But what about the 18 percent? Can we refer to them as a solid mass of critically-minded Filipinos who, in biblical terms, would serve as the "light of the world, salt of the earth" in this era when rationality is shadowed by darkness and people have lost the taste for basic human values as justice, freedom, the rule of law, and solidarity with the vulnerable and weak?

This percentage, however, is also fragmented as there are always those who have no opinion and are safe as fence-sitters. 

What part of the 18 percent can really be regarded as having the needed critical mind to be able to withstand bullying and name-calling and who have not lost the vision of a truly just and free society?

Perhaps we have reason to despair if among the 18 percent there may be only one percent who will stand on the true and genuine principles of justice and righteousness.

History and literature have taught that there is a way out of the impasse. 

In the end we take comfort in Cicero's De Oratore: "By what other voice, too, than that of the orator, is history, the witness of time, the light of truth, the life of memory, the directress of life,  the herald of antiquity, committed to immortality?"

Or in short: "Historia est vitae magistra." "History is the teacher of life!"

Redemptorist Brother Karl Gaspar is Academic Dean of St. Alphonsus Theological and Mission Institute in Davao City and a professor of Anthropology at the Jesuit Ateneo de Davao University. He is author of several books and writes opinion pieces for MindaNews, an online publication in Mindanao.

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