That’s an easy question to answer: because he was elected by an angry people. Filipinos in 2016 — coming out of six years under the rule of former President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III — trooped to the voting booths full of anger over missed opportunities, great crimes that were allowed to slide, and the virtually institutionalised hypocrisy of the Aquino-Cojuangco clan and its surrounding horde of Yellow supporters.
More importantly, Duterte represents a people — and region — that, for so long, had been left holding the short end of the stick that is the modern Philippine state. Duterte is the first Philippine president who hails from the Philippines’ deep south in Mindanao island. As president today, Duterte brings to Imperial Manila the voice of Mindanao, a voice long starved for real representation in the capital city. The political convulsions we are seeing today are the effects of how this once-alien voice in the centuries-old stronghold of political power held by the Philippines’ Tagalog tribes now threatens the status quo.
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The Tagalogs — tribes that inhabited the Philippines’ southern provinces of the northern island of Luzon, after all, enjoyed a history of close collaboration with the United States in the subjugation of the entire Philippine archipelago — something Spain failed to do over the almost 400 years that it held the islands as a colony. Mindanao, until the U.S, took the Philippine Islands from Spain at the close of the 19th Century, largely resisted Spanish colonial domination.
So it is quite understandable that there is now a concerted effort in the Philippines’ political Establishment to resist change under what is essentially the dawn of the Age of Mindanaoan National Rule. It is, of course, still arguable whether Tagalogs and their allies in the Philippines’ oligarchic classes are seeing the sunset of their domination of Philippine politics. With billions of dollars invested in the status quo — notably in industries that remain virtual monopolies holding the Philippine economy within their grips — the ruling classes will not cede Manila to Mindanaoan rule without a fight.
This is the “fight” we are seeing today. It not at all the “fight” described by so-called “thought leader” and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa in her series of treatises about how a purported army of “trolls” is “weaponising” the Internet. The fight is really coming from the Imperial Manila citizens battling for survival — specifically fighting the new Mindanaoan Manila to protect a multi-billion-dollar asset base hinged almost entirely on maintaining the 500-year-old status quo.
The question, of course, is who will win this “fight”. The Mindanao gang are the new kids on the block in Imperial Manila. Manila, with its tony streets, trendy cafes, and flashy casinos, constitutes the battlfield — the contested turf out of which the current oligarchy rule all of the Philippine archipelago. The Duterte government, unfortunately, is unaccustomed to doing this job from Malacanang. It is unaccustomed to dealing with a “news” media industry owned by oligarchs who are deeply invested in this 500-year-old status quo. But it has a strong mandate to see through the change Duterte promised during his campaign.
In short, it comes down to who will work — and fight — smart. Perhaps Ressa is right. In the age of the Internet, those who weaponize the Internet first gain the advantage, much the same way the United States won World War II by being the first to weaponise the atom at the dawn of the Atomic Age.
Then again, there is something to be said about a fight where one side is really angry. Dr David Banner will likely agree.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Nice. Simple answer to a simple question.
easy to anger but difficult to fix, unless if we could work together to solve our own problems rather than blaming on everything.
De Lima couldn’t work with Duterte.
HUlk Smash solves everything…
HULK SMASH>>>>
Philippines is truely divided…is BS Aquino have a wiki leak ? besides his mother natures leak ?
*does
Why do the Yellows and the defenders of the status quo seem at a loss as to what to do?
That’s also an easy question to answer. Because, instead of assuaging the people’s anger and working with them to resolve their concerns, the defenders of the status quo would rather disregard such anger, and tell their opponents that it is unfounded, out of place, stupid, misinformed, unimportant, etc.
Basically, they do not listen. They engage, but rather than embrace, they oppose/alienate. They do not try to understand the anger and concerns; they judge them.
Which is only natural, because all these years that’s what they’ve been doing, and it’s essentially worked. But now is a different story; forces which cannot be dealt with using the old methods have risen to prominence, as a result of Duterte’s ascent to the Presidency.
If anyone tries to tell the people that they are basically doing the same things that the Yellows are doing – at least the most rabid ones – then they are, as I mentioned above, not listening, and quite simply, missing the point. People tend to forget that the status quo defenders have had the advantage for a long time, though technically they still do, even if it is relatively diminished.
It is not an excuse for either side to do it, but to stop at calling out each other’s hypocrisies is not the way to progress forward. Everybody gets stuck. Which is probably what the Yellows and the defenders of the status quo like, anyway.
It’s just easier to blame bs aquino for your underachieving life than to face the mirror and acknowledge you failed. Its easier to blame the oligarchs than to actually move and do something. Thats the reason for the anger and the duterte win. But they will all be disappointed when they learn that under duterte it will not rain twenties.
so you cannot blame that noynoying president? clearly you have a problem
but if you’re still in your teens, i can understand
sorry but philosophical bullshit doesn’t apply to our country’s situation…
come back to the harsh reality of philippine society from your enlighthened consciousness up there in your gated mansions, you dumb f@ck
pardon my frnech
Benigno, you have to make up your mind. Sometimes you say citizens shouldnt be too emotional or hysterical about the president (any president not just duterte) because there are checks, and one man couldnt damage a country too much. Other times you have this screed attacking or crediting the president. Which is it
Try and read the article carefully and go over the reasoning made in the article. Naturally, if the article about how “Pinoys-should-act,” it will appeal to people not to act so emotion. If the article is making an observation about emotional behavior, it will do just that.
Now Mr. Popoyb, take the advice I made some time back. Learn to think for yourself, so you won’t find yourself having to make judgements based on the perceived credibility of others, because even credible people make mistakes or have agendas. Because when you live in a democracy, everyone’s opinions are valuable and really, it is up to the recipient of the message to think for himself and not to rely on the credibility of others.
So a deaf person can judge a singing contest just because were in a democracy? What about a cannibal giving diet and nutrition opinion can we dismiss that? Think before you click. The noose is tightening hehehe.
Your analogies fall flat on their face. Hahaha. I wish I can say that your response deserves scant consideration. I will just leave that to others to decide. However, based on your analogy, I ask you, should a high school graduate have any less say in the way our government is run than a philosopher? Make sure you think before you click.
Faced with all these problems he only inherited from PNoy, who in his right mind wouldn’t get angry and loose his/her temper?
Thoughts & emotions such as Anger are the important internal aspects of our consciousness that will produce the actions needed to change things.
Let PDu30 express or show his Anger rather than suppress or hide it. Because Anger (as oppose Apathy) show he really care about what is going on, he care more for Truth/honesty rather than deceive and manipulate or trick our people,
“Anger is something that everyone experiences, at one level or another, and it needs to be expressed to maintain emotional health and intimacy. Most people have a murky relationship with anger and how to express it in a way that isn’t hurtful to oneself or others.
When we don’t learn that anger is a natural human experience we will pretend we don’t feel what we feel and that ultimately turns us further away from ourselves… and then others.”
http://www.revealingwisdom.com/conflict-communication/anger-suppress-or-express
That may be true in terms of people who are angry at PNoy and the Aquinos and the yellow group. These are the people who may either have felt left behind or has gotten a raw deal under Aquino’s leadership. It is also absolutely true about the Marcos loyalists who continue to harbor ill-feelings against the gov’t. because of the unfair treatment they’re are suffering since the downfall of Marcos. The same goes with Marcos sympathizers which I think Pres. Duterte belongs to.
Lastly, not all who voted for Duterte are angry. There are those, and I think there are many, who just wants genuine reform and improvement to what’s going on. They are sick and tired of the more of the same cycle.
That is a view that any anti-PNoy, Marcos loyalist will be happy to embrace. Compared to former presidents Erap Estrada and Gloria Arroyo, respectively, PNoy’s administration is a little bit better. In fact, the two former presidents went out the exit door in a scandalous manner carrying corruption cases with them. Erap, in fact, was ousted during a controversial impeachment hearing in the Senate; while Arroyo appears to have not recovered from the Garci tapes that dragged her admin watch in tatters up to the last days of her watch.
Was PNoy’s term the best? Not in a hundred years but it was better than the two.
With regard to “Mindanao, Manila and the so-called tribes and fight” mentioned in the article, I think it’s a figment of one’s imagination titillated by Duterte’s coming to power as president. It’s obvious the idea was to put a division among Filipinos and start a “fight” among themselves which will only have one loser: the Filipinos.
If I can only remind everyone: Please stop it.
For a second there I thought JoeAm was in da haws ???? or is he? ????
He’s an apologist to the yellows, critic to the rest. meeeehh
He’s a leftist. They’re always angry about one thing or another. No surprise here.
He’s already admitted to be socialist. Socialists belong in the right. Communism is the extreme left. Socialism is the extreme right. Those in the extremes will always be angry. But you shouldn’t confuse him for a communist.
He is always angry because he knows, deep inside, that he never be as great as Noynoy.
Hahaha…Noynoy has been a failure even before he became a joke of a president. Nobody wants to be like AbNoy. He thought he can hide his insecurities by purchasing a Porsche or pretending to like to date women, all those nonsense while the rest of the country suffers.
True, BS Aquino is great if not the Greatest Failure amongst Philippine presidents. So yes, DU30 will never be like your idol????
And sarcasm needs practice
Double standard again of the Yellow Camp in action. They really have trouble acknowledging the plank in their own eyes. Maria Ressa with her backers were first to “weaponize” the internet themselves by creating Rappler. Like l said—–institutionalized hypocrisy there, courtesy of the Yellow communications group.
What a shame for them to be so sore whenever they are beaten in their own game!
It is the common Filipino blogger , that “weaponize” the Web Blogs in the internet. Those YellowTard Internet Trolls, who are paid by Aquino and bunch of Oligarchs , are easily recognized.
These YellowTard Trolls are fighting a losing battle in the field of public opinion…because the Filipino people have already waken up…
Duterte represents the century old frustrations of the Filipino people, of the “politics as usual”, done by our corrupt politicians.
Not only from people of Mindanao, but the Filipinos, as a whole. Duterte represents the : Movement for Change for a Better Philippines !
We have to unite to make this change attainable and lasting !
And to add to what I’ve said above, the reason why Pres. Duterte is always angry was because it’s in his personality. That’s who he is. He ruled Davao with anger and temper no one have seen anywhere or at least incomparable with other politicians. ????
Personality or no personality…we want a President , who produce good results…not unlike Aquino, who sat on his hands; did nothing but blame previous Presidents. Aquino allowed the Philippines to become a NARCO Republic.
I believe that if the investigators will dig further…more will come out …Aquino, Mar Roxas; the Chinese Triad Mafia crime syndicate, operating in the Philippines !
We want results…not arguing about personalities !
Resistance to the old age status quo is a sign that shows we’re going the right way. Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will go to hell and back and cut off the devil’s head himself to save the country that he loves.
Amen Brother. Amen.
You know why he is angry?
Because the Philippines is a big mess and his detractors are making it even harder for him to fix the problem.
Just look at this Abu Sayyaf problem. US/CIA sired this group and now that he wants to finally clean up the mess, Uncle Sam is making lots of noises. I will also not be surprised if Fidel Ramos’ current outbursts vs. Duterte has got something to do with his political will to destroy this group. If you know what I mean… Just read the article to see the complex web that Duterte has to untangle.
I pity him.
You know why he is angry?
Because the Philippines is a big mess and his detractors are making it even harder for him to fix the problem.
Just look at this Abu Sayyaf problem. US/CIA sired this group and now that he wants to finally clean up the mess, Uncle Sam is making lots of noises. I will also not be surprised if Fidel Ramos’ current outbursts vs. Duterte has got something to do with his political will to destroy this group. If you know what I mean… Just read the article to see the complex web that Duterte has to untangle.
I pity him.
Hey benigno, in your last sentence I think what you meant to write was Dr. Bruce Banner not David…
Bruce, I believe, was the original comics name. David was the name used in the TV adaptation.
http://i.stack.imgur.com/2DmEM.jpg
David Bruce Banner