NICCOLO Machiavelli's "The Prince" is every politician's handbook. Published five years after he died in 1527, the book is timeless and remains a handy pragmatic guide for rulers who need to stay in power. What it lacks is practical advice on how to prepare them for life when they are out of power.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte ran Machiavelli's playbook to perfection while he was the prince. But given that he now finds himself in a hostile political environment, what he needs now, apart from trying to regain a portion of his principality by seeking another term as mayor of Davao City, is to unlearn Machiavelli.
The Prince teaches rulers to rationalize the opportunity to use manipulation, deceit and ruthless tactics to keep their throne. Machiavelli thinks that deception is part of realpolitik's terrain. He says that it is wise for a politician to apply cunning and manipulation to get what he wants. Navigating through the rough and complex political tides requires both candor and bluffing or subterfuge.
Benefiting from hindsight on how Duterte ran the government when he was president, one can tell how he applied those Machiavellian tips, along with the following:
– A ruler must project wisdom, virtue and strength, even if he is the actual opposite in private. Machiavelli advises that "it is better for a prince to be feared than loved if he cannot be both, as fear is a more reliable means of maintaining control."
– A strong and loyal military is essential for maintaining one's grip on political power and thwarting potential threats to his or her reign.
Duterte, through projection and messaging, instilled fear in the minds of his subjects. He cursed and pointed fingers at his enemies, both real and imagined. He threatened suspected criminals with physical harm and went on to preside over a war on drugs that killed thousands of them. He wished ill health to those who he imagined were trying to undermine him, including government workers such as state auditors and those tasked with promoting human rights.
On the other hand, he pampered the men in uniform with promises of better pay. He increased their retirement benefits. He appointed many of them to high positions in government. And, if the revelations that are coming out of an ongoing congressional investigation are any indication, he offered monetary rewards to the police for every kill they carried out during the war on drugs.
The intended effect of doing what Machiavelli preaches was achieved. People feared him, and nobody dared call him the naked emperor that he was. (A few exceptions would have included then-justice secretary Leila de Lima, who attempted to investigate him when he was mayor of Davao City, but she ended up in jail when Duterte became president.) The military and the police were at his beck and call, ensuring the administration's agenda got the support it needed, including allowing the entry of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) that brought to our shores what would be like Trojan horses loaded with untold security risks.
Duterte must have made Machiavelli proud. The people regarded his presidency highly. Surveys conducted by SWS, Pulse Asia, Publicus Asia and OCTA Research showed that his approval ratings hovered at an average of 75 percent throughout the six years of his term. Pollsters considered him the most popular among post-EDSA presidents. In this respect, it is hard to dispute the Machiavelli effect on creating the mythical dome of Duterte's popularity, one that influenced how the people both feared and loved him. What is suspect is how he now copes with an administration that, halfway into its term, is busy competing for people's approval that used to be his and mostly on a broadside that must be made public at his expense.
A foretaste of that broadside has been served on the table by the ongoing congressional investigations that, seeking prompts in aid of legislation, may likewise be motivated by either a pure desire to unearth hidden truths and rectify past errors or create power shifts designed to raise a contender to the throne at the expense of another.
The quad committee at the House of Representatives has just elicited from former police colonel and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma the information that Duterte was on top of the drug war operation that offered output-based monetary rewards to policemen who killed drug suspects. To a person with a modicum of a sense of moral balance, such a charge should damn Duterte to the pain of being subjected to further investigation.
At the Senate, Sen. Risa Hontiveros has succeeded in steering an investigation that exposed the disease that the POGO has brought to the country and the extent it has infected the bureaucracy. The criminal content and security risks that are associated with POGOs are also, bit by bit, being attributed to the handiwork of Duterte associates. Then there is Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the "Appointed Son of God," no less, getting undressed also by the senator as a rapist and a trafficking bandit, who happens to have a mutual fan club with Duterte and Sens. Robinhood Padilla and Cynthia Villar, among others.
And yet, it is less about the former president and more about the future president now. As the shift of political tides clears the ground for the skinning of Rodrigo Duterte, they also create the conditions for the rise of single-use henchmen that will blunt the launch of Vice President Sara Duterte for the presidency in 2028. Where before she had one of her feet planted inside the presidential door, further grooming of the daughter with her father's popularity, built on the murder of thousands of drug suspects, is now a debatable proposition.
Either of them needs to unlearn a little of Machiavelli and try to understand that shortcuts in governance, and more particularly in the administration of justice that result in summary killings, create more problems in the long term than they cure. Part of the former president's come-on is the perceived method by which he provided swift justice for the oppressed (the same perception that is creating the Tulfo brothers). Such a perception becomes more compelling at a time when people's faith in our judicial system is so low and disgustingly prone to corruption. Past, present and future rulers would instead do well to strengthen the judicial system and make it more responsive to the plight of the poor.
Less Machiavelli and more system retrofitting is not only good for institution building, but it also protects the ruler from future headwinds when he or she is out of power. It is not true that the ogre never dies; they do, except that they get resurrected in the next guy who is equally power-hungry as you once were. Democracy is served, as the saying goes, not by goodwill but by the ambition of men.