MANILA
Positive survey findings in favor of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continue to baffle observers.
Who can blame those who can’t believe the news of Duterte getting high marks from people surveyed? With all the controversies swirling around him, the common observer can only scratch his head in confusion.
I’ve written before that there’s a possible explanation for Duterte’s high marks. If a stranger, in the person of a survey interviewer, comes around a random community and starts asking questions of the residents there, how would the residents react? If the stranger asks for a resident’s opinion of Duterte’ performance in office, what is the resident likely to say?
My hunch is that the resident, not knowing or fully understanding who the interviewer is or where from, would be wary about speaking his or her mind. How would a plain citizen be able to discern whether the interviewer was really from a legitimate polling outfit? The resident might even suspect the interviewer was from the government.
How then would he or she respond to the questioning from the interviewer? A suspicious or cautious person would tend to play it safe under such a circumstance. Even if the resident felt disappointed with Mr. Duterte so far, why would he or she risk getting in trouble by opening his or her heart and speak negatively about Duterte?
The safe way therefore is to give a safe answer. Why risk bad consequences, at least in the mind of a simple Everyman or woman, by saying something negative about the most powerful person in the country today?
Filipinos are a very cautious people, especially in a time like this when extrajudicial killings (EJKs) are so common. Filipinos are known to be extra deferential toward authority, extra respectful of power. Thus, they choose to go along to get along. The same with surveys, why make waves when that could get you in trouble?
Mr. Duterte also gets favorable marks for respecting human rights. Again, this one must make people, especially rights activists, scratch their heads in wonder. How could a person who doesn’t care for human rights get high approval for respecting human rights?
Again, I have a hunch. I think those interviewed have a different perspective regarding human rights. They’re not thinking of victims of EJKs. Rather, they’re thinking of supposed victims of drug addicts, of people harmed or killed by people deranged by drugs. Because the police have been going after, and killing, such people, then those interviewed are convinced the Duterte government has been a champion of human rights because it has been eliminating drug addicts who harm ordinary citizens. It’s a matter of perspective about whose human rights are being violated.
Surely, there are Filipinos who really like Duterte. Sixteen million voted for him, although one sees in social media that some of those who voted for him are experiencing voters’ remorse. This is similar to a person who buys something and then later realizes that he or she bought a lemon, a defective product.
Those who still like Mr. Duterte are those who believe in summary justice. They’re tired of the slow grind of our judicial system and welcome the brand of justice provided by EJKs.
These people are inured to the violence that pervade in their communities and just want relief from that kind of reality in their midst. And so, when someone comes around and promises them peace and order, they don’t hesitate to welcome the self-designated savior-protector.
These are people who aren’t shocked anymore because they see human rights violated day after day in their communities. And so, they believe in retribution, a word the President likes. As in “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
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