Leandro Quintana
A FEW weeks, back The New York Times run a news item asking why Filipinos decided that they want a new “dictator” for President. In the US, many are still scratching their heads to figure out why Donald Trump beat out 17 other prominent, seasoned candidates in the primaries and is now the presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican party. The simplest answer is that both the US and Philippine electorates seek drastic change.
In the US, the Republican primary voters tend to be more conservative in their philosophy of government and the way the primaries are organized and scheduled, the early ones are dominated by a heavy presence of evangelicals. Which is why up until the 2012 elections, people like Mike Huckaby and Rick Santorum almost always got a good percentage of support. Both wear their religious affiliations and beliefs on their sleeves. Yet, this time around something had changed. The Republican right wing had successfully dominated the congressional elections and had grabbed control of both the senate and the house of representatives and the senate only to find out that they could not deliver much of what they were promised and that President Barack Obama, through deft and frequent use of his executive powers, got some of his key programs implemented. These right wing Republicans, including the vocal “Tea Party” cadres, realized that their congressional leaders could not deliver of their electoral promises.
Comes now Donald Trump, a real estate magnate and host of several TV reality shows who immediately rang the alarm bells that could stir the party faithful into near rabid action.
His opening salvos stirred the hot coals of prejudice and hate that lay dormant in the heart of many of his listeners.
He called the Mexican immigrants “rapists” and promised that he would deport all 11 million of the illegal immigrants back to Mexico. And what’s more he would build a high wall at the border and stop the flow of future migrants.
He then attacked the existence of several trade treaties which he blamed for shipping good paying industrial jobs overseas (not mentioning that he himself followed this practice with many of his products.) And then slowly but surely started picking off his primary opponents one by one and after the Indiana primary he was left standing alone. He effectively tapped into the voters’ fears and frustration and so now is a battle between him and Hillary Clinton. The expectations are that this will be a nasty, dirty war and whoever wins will be bloodied beyond recognition.
And now the Philippines and its President, Rodrigo Duterte. His reputation precedes him. Tales abound of death squads, including a litany of “extra-judicial” executions of some one thousand criminals in Davao City where he has been mayor for some 20 years. Under normal circumstances, his record should result in mass paranoia in much of the electorate. Yet the opposite seems to be the case. “If only the criminals are victimized, that’s fine” seems to be the rationale of his loyal supporters.
Mr. Duterte is so popular in the entire country that the very minute he declared his candidacy, he became the odds on favorite to win.
Frustration too is the apt profile to describe the mood of the Philippine electorate. For decades, regardless of which party or group was in power, billions get salted away by graft and outright corruption. The corruption is so endemic and widespread that it touches every aspect of society and Philippine life. Laws and regulations do not matter. As of today, for example, some 30 years after the ouster of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his ill-gotten wealth of some US$10 billion remains uncollected. Instead, his wife Imelda and their children are safely ensconced in their bailiwick of Ilocos Norte where they control every aspect of life and live in resplendent luxury.
There is a corrosive and debilitating aspect to Philippine life whereby a few oligarchic families and groups control all the power and resources. These families and groups are all wellepresented in Congress who serve as the watchdogs over their wealth.
Millions of Filipinos, at home and around the world, hope and pray that by electing Duterte as President, some of the long lasting frustration with their government and society will be relieved so that, at long last, the full potential of a very talented nation can finally be bully realized.
A bridge too far, perhaps but one that needs to be crossed.
E-mail: Ldq44@aol.com
