MANILA
At this point in his life, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has nothing to lose.
He’s reached every politician’s ultimate dream: be President. What else is there to aim for?
He’s there, at the top of the mountain. Now, he’s ready to die if that is his destiny.
For the kind of person he seems to be, that is not a far-fetched possibility. Duterte himself has said he’s willing to die for what he aims to do in the presidency. And, with his kind of personality and tendencies, he isn’t afraid to end in a blaze of gunfire or any other dramatic ending.
It’s not too outlandish to conjecture that Duterte would suffer the ultimate fate of dying both an untimely and violent demise. His personality and behavior invite it.
This is not to wish something drastic and permanent on Mr. Duterte but he himself would probably admit that it’s something that comes with the territory when you’re as cocky and reckless as he is. And he’s the kind who wouldn’t back away from that risk.
Despite what others claim that Duterte is really a shy and quiet person, what he’s shown us so far is the opposite. He’s full of hubris, he’s boastful and a bully, at least to someone like me who doesn’t know him.
He spews inelegant, even repulsive, words. He challenges not only convention, but also specific individuals. Look at how he has heaped scorn on the clergy.
And he doesn’t worry about whom he offends. If he could curse the Pope, he could curse anyone. That’s who Duterte is.
As the rebellious Janis Joplin of 1960s music philosophized: “Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” For Duterte, there’s nothing left to lose. That’s why he feels free to make the most outrageous statements.
While waiting in Davao City, where he’s been mayor for over 20 years, to sit as president, he entertained the media with daily helpings of Duterte-isms. He threw around ideas like imposing a curfew and killing suspected criminals on site. He bashed Catholic bishops as hypocrites. It was his way of telling everyone who’s boss starting on July 1.
The ideas he threw around might upset those who prize decorum and the rule of law. But they probably brought glee to his fan base and those who don’t worry about due process. It was his way of floating trial balloons — like putting Communists in the Cabinet, burying dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Graveyard of Heroes), a three-children policy, etc. — to see what the people would buy and what they wouldn’t.
It was likewise his way of scaring people, threatening them that if you don’t like his ways you had better get out of his way or skip town altogether. It was a shot across the bow to warn everyone — politicians, civil society, rights activists, the elite and the common people — that a new boss is coming to town.
And what if there’s opposition to his pet ideas? He doesn’t worry about that. Damn those who disagree. And if push comes to shove, he will shove back.
And if the immovable meets the unstoppable, a bloody mess will ensue. And my guess is that, unlike President Joseph Estrada who abandoned his office in 2001, President Duterte will fight to the end.
One of the most iconic political images of the 20th century is that of a besieged President Salvador Allende of Chile holding a submachine gun waiting for would-be assassins at the presidential palace in Santiago.
If and when Duterte finds himself in a similar situation, I think he will choose not to do an Estrada but would rather do an Allende, who met his death on that fateful night of Sept. 11, 1973 at the Palacio de la Moneda in Santiago, Chile.
It’s not a fate I wish on Mr. Duterte. But I think he’s the kind of person who would rather choose it over surrender.
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