PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte made good use of his ability to brand the demons he will exorcise, from drugs to communism to the ABS-CBN Corp. and Maria Ressa. He carved his presidency by constructing and imaging them as bogeys in his political swamp, and crafted his narrative with the mission of draining the swamp of his monsters.

This has been the trademark of his presidency. He made a cottage industry out of Sandra Bullock’s movie “Our Brand is Crisis” and turned it into a political machinery to gain legitimacy and to cement his grip on his loyal political base. He appeared to be in total control. He and his propagandists effectively painted the image of a country in the throes of becoming a narcostate. He unleashed the full force of the state to wage a war on drugs that focused more on the demand side instead of the supply side.