Tag Archives: Rodrigo Duterte

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ChaCha: Duterte’s endgame #SONA2018 #NoToChaCha

The Duterte government is on overdrive, providing us all with requisite distractions from the fact that the Duterte-appointed consultative committee has drafted a federal constitution to the President’s liking, and we’re all back to this discussion, not about whether or not we even want charter change, or if it’s necessary at all, but about how it’s going to happen.

Let that sink in.

Duterte’s propagandists and chacha advocates have been able to bring it to this point when we’re not even discussing whether or not charter change will happen but how it will happen. The President and his people have muscled their way through this charter change push — we’re talking THREE different federal constitutions after all since August 2016 — and it has been able to do this by utilizing what we’ve seen government do consistently and viciously the past two years: chaos-by-design.

We complain that his communications team is terrible, that they are incompetent, but that is part of the grand design. One controversy over one incompetence over one corruption controversy, on loop, layered with the President’s big mouth, and here we are: faced with the threat of charter change so close, sold as a done deal, discussed as if we, the people, have no choice in it.

It is as Duterte and his men have planned. And I realize now that ChaCha was always been Duterte’s endgame, federalism not just a campaign promise he made, but a promise made to him.  (more…)

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Duterte VS the ICC: A timeline of a man digging his own grave

Rodrigo Duterte’s statement saying the Philippines is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC) would only be a surprise to someone who hasn’t paid enough attention to the moves of this President — (ill-)advised and otherwise. After all, this is a man who lives off shooting from the hip, declaring in no uncertain terms who the enemies are of nation, never mind that it reeks of double-standard at every turn, and protects his own men despite the stench of corruption and anti-people policies that now pervade his whole government.

The ICC statement, as such, is really just Duterte being Duterte. He is not disente, he does not care for what is appropriate or diplomatic, he will not apologize for his loud, dirty mouth. And he lies. He changes his mind, he shifts from one stand to another, he goes on the path of least resistance (be it China or Russia, or whoever’s willing to kiss his feet), and when faced with difficulty, his answer is violence — kill those people, call critics terrorists, bomb those schools, bomb those structures! And when held accountable for his actions, he will have the Chief Justice impeached, he will discredit the Ombudsman, he will decide to get out of a treaty that promises protection of Filipino citizens from systemic, state violence.

Duterte has often said about his oppressive, anti-people policies that we insist go against our basic rights: kung wala kayong kasalanan, bakit kayo matatakot? Seems like a question the President should be asking himself.

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Ressa, Amnesty International, Duterte, words

I am the last person to even defend (or care for that matter) about Maria Ressa and Rappler. I still don’t think that is a credible website, I still question the kind of work that it does, and I still never read it, and rarely link to it (unless they’re the only ones who carry a story).

But at a time of d/misinformation and troll discourse, especially given a consistently discredited media, it’s important to see a misstep for what it is, especially from government officials who are skewing what should be a pretty straight-up, clear-cut, important discussion that needs to be had about why Amnesty International Netherlands included President Duterte in a video of leaders who are taking away our freedoms.

This was an opportunity to discuss the bases of the inclusion. Instead it became about the blame game, with mainstream media as the favorite punching bag.
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Two Mochas too many

Here’s the thing with having someone like Mocha Uson as Asec of the Presidential Communications Operations Office: she has no business being there.

I ignored her for much of the time she was spewing hate and vitriol during the campaign of 2016, but the moment she became a government official, there became no reason to ignore her, because public funds pay for her salary, for her trips, for whatever it is she’s doing on social media which is necessarily on behalf of and in connection to the PCOO and government.

And here is where Senator Nancy Binay was correct: there is no clear or real or tenable divide between Mocha on her FB account and Mocha the Assistant Secretary. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar of course insists otherwise, saying that Mocha’s disclaimer on her page is enough for us all to acknowledge this separation between the two Mochas. He also brings in an illusory debate: (more…)

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Unity, protest, cultural work #Sept21 #Luneta

It was in early August when I was asked to be convenor of the Movement Against Tyranny (MAT), a multi-sectoral gathering of various groups and individuals who are taking a stand against the killings, the state of tyranny, and the return of dictatorship.

Admittedly, I was hesitant about saying yes. I was not part of any organization, and was being invited primarily as independent writer. At this point I had already resigned my column with The Manila Times, which I realized afterwards was a security blanket I didn’t ask for — I was rarely the target of pro-government trolls and propagandists, and I would be told by a highly reliable source that it’s because the paper is considered “kakampi.”

While I was deciding on whether or not to say yes to MAT, Kian delos Santos was killed by policemen, adding to the thousands dead in the war on drugs. The Cultural Workers’ Statement (dated August 20) was written, gained traction, and has since gathered 1,279 signatures (and counting) from cultural workers across advertising, TV, film, theater, music, dance, visual arts, education, journalism, writing, comics, graphic design, social sciences. People I didn’t expect would put their names on that statement, actually did. There was hope, I thought.   (more…)