By Atty. Howie Calleja
Last 2016, the Philippines selected a strongman – someone that, they believed, was a welcome change after decades of corrupt politicians. Whether it was because they were a product of political dynasties, spoke English in interviews, or because they left office much richer than they entered, the public had a deep distrust of politics and those who engaged in the profession. So the voters of 2016 made their will known, electing a man into Malacañang who promised to be the opposite of everything we once believed politicians to be.
Over the past five years, we’ve definitely had a President unlike any we’ve seen before. “Action”, it was said, was to be prioritized over promises. But neither flourished: promises weren’t kept, and any action that was taken was only to the detriment of the average Juan.
Corruption reared its ugly head early on in the Duterte administration, with the immigration scandal involving immigration officials – up until now, immigration personnel have yet to be vindicated, what with the ongoing pastillas scam. We also cannot forget the 15b PhilHealth scam, the 60m Department of Tourism /Tulfo-Teo scandal, the Cesar Montano Buhay Carinderia 80m scandal, and especially about the 6.4b and 11b drug smuggling scandal in the bureau of customs. These are but some of the corruption scandals that contributed to a lower corruption index of 115 over 180 countries worldwide.
On the COVID-19 crisis alone, we’ve seen the one of worse pandemic responses: politicking resulted in higher cost of PPEs and testing kits, and slowed down vaccine rollouts; scientists advocating for financial and policy support at the height of the public health crisis were called revolutionaries; and, instead of ensuring small businesses would remain open and the employment would be secure during a global pandemic, stripping ABS-CBN of their license became a top priority.
Neither can we soon forget the consistent deprivation of our constitutional rights. The Duterte Presidency began with promises of engaging in dialogue with the poor – only to have a record number of jailing and killing of student activists, indigenous people, and human rights defenders. The administration’s policy of selective justice has only become magnified during the pandemic, with top officials repeatedly ignoring regulations that the masses are thrown in jail for. The threat of our liberties remain consistent and pressing, with a group of the top lawyers in the country (Including the former Ombudsman, a former Supreme Court Justice, law school deans, human rights defenders, and yours truly), assailing the Anti-Terrorism Act: a law championed by Duterte and his allies, but one that is not just problematic but legitimizing state abuse.
His main promise and characterization of being a “strongman” has even failed. Every speech on the West Philippine Sea -including his jet ski promise- is loaded with jokes and hyperbolic speak. By failing to uphold the ICC’s ruling on the West Philippine Sea and, in fact, bending to China’s will at every turn, all we’ve seen is all talk, no action. So with failure on every corner, it would seem like an easy win in 2022. However, that is not the case.
Populism was attractive in 2016, and remains to be so, for many. The main quality of a populist-authoritarian leadership is a disdain for social conventions and norms. Spoken plainly, it is by labeling diplomacy as inaction, undermining the media by crying “fake news” at every term, and by favoring cursing on late-night press briefings in an attempt to seem “relatable” that the shift from traditional politics is complete.
But the currency of which human rights and upholding liberties has been dependent is actually these social conventions. Attempts to undermine, or devalue, that currency only opens the floodgates for more excuses for the leadership.
It is in the name of rejecting traditional politics that they are allowed more room for being crass on a world stage. The slippery slope of populism, driven by fear of the state of the country and resentment of the elite, has brought us to a point where ineffectiveness, selective justice, and lack of accountability run rampant. And, worse, we’ve been fooled into believing it was a worthy trade-off.
But, we will not be fooled. We will remember the failures, and we will never forget all the broken promises and the numerous killings perpetuated under this administration. This culture of fear cannot be sustained and we will, once again, stand behind leaders who do not rely on Filipino resiliency or their reckless optimism, but rather leaders who know what the Filipinos deserve and do everything in their power to deliver it to them. For the Philippines to become truly united, it does not mean that we have to agree with each other – it doesn’t even mean that we have to agree with every part of a candidate’s platform. We should be united in our fundamental belief of the primacy of human rights, our understanding of the dignity the Presidential office deserves, and our belief that no one man is above the law.
It is the fear of the state of the Philippines in 2016 that drove millions to vote for Duterte. Out of a desperate need of change for our country, unknowingly, 16m Filipinos voted a change for the worse. Now, the hole is so much deeper. Now we are a divided nation fighting among ourselves and killing our own people. Who can dig us out? We have been hearing rumblings of possible candidacies from more of the same: another Duterte, another Marcos, Bong Go, even Manny Pacquiao all have been rumoured to be preparing for a national run. Lest we again fall prey to populist leaders who talk big but underperform, 2022 is the year we reject their broken promises.
We need leaders who are truly capable honest and trustworthy, leaders who can unite the country and erase the great divide of DDS and Diliwan. We do not need leaders who are winnable, but rather let us choose the most capable and honest leaders and make them winnable.
