MANILA
When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was mayor of Davao City in southern Philippines he had successfully established himself as a feudal lord there for 20 years. Far from the scrutinizing eyes of what outsiders resentfully call “Imperial Manila,” he quietly ensconced himself in Davao as a feudal warlord. He scared the local people into submission.
He told them he would take care of them by ridding the city of undesirable elements. And he proved his word by carrying a big stick. Shades of the young Vito Corleone who challenged the tough guys in New York City’s Little Italy.
He built a reputation for eliminating scourges of society in his territory and the people loved him for it. Citizens of Davao generally kept quiet as long as there’s peace and order there. The people of Davao gave Duterte a long leash and let him do his thing.
Thus, over the years Duterte got a firm grip on Davao. That he and his children alternately served as city officials is added proof that they considered Davao their holding as feudal lords. Duterte feels he “owns” Davao.
That feeling of “ownership” made everything personal to Duterte. Nobody in Davao was entitled to question him on anything.
Take the local Davao news media. Because they live and work there, they had to accept Duterte for what he was. They couldn’t do otherwise because, at the end of the day, they would still be there the following morning, still subject to the feudal lord’s rules.
Unlike the Manila-based media, who could ask probing questions of Duterte because, first, it was their work and duty to probe. And, two, they weren’t captive to Duterte’s strongman aura because they didn’t live there.
But Duterte, elected President last May, resented the tough questions by Manila media. He took them as impertinent and disrespectful or, as the British put it, “infradig,” slang for the Latin infra dignitatem, beneath one’s dignity. They so put him off he instantly declared an estrangement with Manila media, proof of his impulsiveness.
This isn’t to say that Davao-based media aren’t as tough as their Manila counterparts. It’s just that, since they live in Davao, the pragmatic thing to do was to go along to get along. They didn’t want to unnecessarily rock the boat.
Duterte himself says his personal universe had been rather small. Davao was his only playground.
I don’t know whether he hobnobbed with Davao’s social set, but I suspect he was more at home with a small circle of friends. That was his milieu and thus he could talk like a street toughie with his mates, which explains his coarse vocabulary.
Further proof that Duterte is feudal is his justification of summary killings as “retribution.” You know, the eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth mantra of fundamentalist thinkers. Duterte wants to take us back to that age. He calls “retribution” the “classical” approach but in reality it’s woefully archaic thinking. The United States and the United Nations have taken notice.
What’s more feudal than his favorite threat: “I will kill you”? That’s megalomaniacal talk from someone convinced of his absolute power.
Sixteen million voters (out of 54 million), plus his Cabinet members, don’t mind that Duterte is what he is, rough and repulsive. As I’ve written before, that’s what they wanted, that’s what they got.
Those who voted for him felt that Duterte would be able to solve the country’s problems. And so they gave him the job of President. Let’s all hope he’s up to the job.
But, is all the cursing, sexist attitude, and the megalomania necessary? The Dark Ages are long past.
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