Dismantling the Duterte political structures

THE whole Marcos bureaucracy has now descended upon the Dutertes, worse than Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (Trami) that ravaged the countryside. Mainstream media are inundated by various Senate and House hearings that started several months back. The "pasakalye," or opening gambit, was Marcos allowing the investigations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the core initiatives of the Deegong administration, a vital part of Duterte's legacy, arresting the country's slide into a narco-state. Marcos' acts presaged the breakup of the UniTeam that propelled BBM to the presidency. These harsh methods were applied successfully in Davao, where he was mayor for almost three decades.

True, he has gotten rid of illegal drugs and drug lords and made the city crime-free and relatively peaceful — analogous to the proverbial stillness of the graveyard. But for the Davaoeños, who suffered all types of violence during the dark days of the martial law regime and the leftist and communist insurgency, making Davao its laboratory — it was worth the blood of evil men. We were tolerant. But the Deegong's formula failed when he translated his homegrown solution into the national stage when he became president and instituted the "tok-tok hangyo" or "tokhang" initiative — a house-to-house campaign against illegal drugs, resulting in deadly collateral damage, the reprehensible extra-judicial killings (EJKs) currently under ICC investigation. BBM's seeming cooperation and tacit blessing for the ICC prompted the Duterte clan — particularly the Duterte boys — to clamor for BBM to step down from Malacañang. But Duterte's accusation of BBM being an addict himself was unacceptable, particularly to the first lady — the last straw that broke the camel's back. So today, the battlelines are drawn between two political dynasties ("Clash of dynasties," The Manila Times, March 4, 2024) and the control of power by 2025 and beyond.

CENTRIST DEMOCRACY POLITICAL INSTITUTE