Less than six months into his term, President Rodrigo Duterte is already being asked to resign.
If you visit Facebook, you’ll see posts that carry increasing demands for the President’s resignation. The latest bone of contention is his order to Veep Leni Robredo, who belongs to a different political party, to “desist” from attending Cabinet meetings.
Many people are put off by Mr. Duterte’s lack of decorum, jarring stands on various issues (like shifting away from American alliance and into the embrace of China and Russia), summary killings all over the country, and flip-flopping on issues, saying one thing one day and another thing the next day.
It’s been a whirlwind five-and-a-half months. Actually, even before he took office, Duterte had been at it, making policy pronouncements left and right and conducting nightly perorations on his pet positions and personal peeves.
He’s been crass, using repulsive language no other president (anywhere, with a few exceptions) uses. He has unnecessarily offended and alienated world leaders and organizations, including US President Barack Obama and Pope Francis.
It’s hard to understand what kind of normal human being would act in such a way, as when he rued not being first in line to rape an Australian missionary who was later murdered. Many Filipinos here and around the world are embarrassed by his behavior.
And yet people around him, his Cabinet primarily, don’t seem bothered. One of them even said summary killings are a “necessary evil.” What kind of mentality is that? Are these people really that callous or are they just scared to speak out against their boss? Actually, they don’t even have to speak out, they can just resign.
But, at this point anyway, the President enjoys positive ratings. The people are one of three things: Some approve of his governing and personal style, some give him the benefit of the doubt, and some are scared of him.
But, more and more, people who didn’t approve of the despicable language and behavior from the beginning are speaking out. And people who had been giving him the benefit of the doubt are realizing it was a mistake to cut him slack in the first place.
If Facebook is an indication, there’s a lot of discontent out there already. People are agitated and are demanding that something decisive happens soon. This is the same reason the millennials came out in big numbers recently in reaction to the government’s allowing and assisting the Marcos family to bury the dictator Ferdinand in the Libingan ng mg Bayani, hallowed ground reserved for the nation’s heroes.
There’s ferment among the people. But I’ve cautioned angry anti-Duterte people on Facebook that acting against Duterte would be a risky move. That things could get brutal because they’re facing a manifestly ruthless leader with the full resources of the government. I’ve counseled prudence lest many people get seriously hurt in the process.
The grapevine is full of talk of moves to oust Mr. Duterte. If you believe the talk, it’s as if people or groups are racing each other to do him in. Even the President himself has said so, that there are plans to assassinate him or at least impeach him. And he talks often about not surviving his full term, which further fuels rumors that he’s unwell.
What’s real and what isn’t?
I doubt if even intelligence services of the government know. They may smell something afoot but at this point there’s no way to fully determine what’s credible and what’s hogwash among the conspiracy theories. They vary depending on which coffee shops one frequents and which “experts” one hears.
But I think the discontent is real. So, how long will President Duterte last in office? Without wishing them to happen, any moves against Duterte would require pin-point planning, military-style precision, on-point logistics, and large masses of warm bodies out in the streets.
Without belittling the encouraging outpouring of anti-Duterte citizens in protest recently, particularly millennials, hundreds of thousands more warm bodies will be needed to achieve critical mass. Mr. Duterte knows this, that’s why he even dares protesters to rally everyday if they want.
Duterte is said to be a fatalistic person, that if your time is up, there’s not much you can do to stop fate. In that context, Mr. Duterte is ready to meet his destiny anytime. That, and probably his belief that he’s too popular to be ousted, allows him to even dare people to go after him.
It’s early days, I tell people, to move against Duterte. But if he keeps daring people or worse, fate, he might just get what he’s wishing for.
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