Mayor Duterte's Political Ideologies as a Strategy: Prelude to being a President PDF

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Mayor Duterte's Political Ideologies as a Strategy: Prelude to being a President Mariah Jiana Patrice Corazon Aurigue Ninna Sybelle Catbagan Sheena Contreras Patricia Gloriani History of Political Thought Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Service College of Arts and Sciences Lyceum of the Philippines ...

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Mayor Duterte's Political Ideologies as a Strategy: Prelude to being a President Mariah Jiana Patrice Corazon Aurigue Ninna Sybelle Catbagan Sheena Contreras Patricia Gloriani History of Political Thought Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Service College of Arts and Sciences Lyceum of the Philippines University-Cavite ABSTRACT Rodrigo Roa Duterte, former Davao City Mayor and elected as the current and 16th President of the Philippines, has always been a self-proclaimed leftist and socialist in his entire years of being a political leader. Socialism and his left-wing political views greatly influenced his strategy in dealing with the affairs of the city he ruled for more than twenty years. Now as the Head of State, he remains to have the same set of political ideologies that shape his actions and decisions concerning the Filipino people under his administration. The purpose of this research is to shed light to people all over the world as to why the current Philippine President has an unconventional strategy in administering all matters of the entire Filipino nation. This research aims to provide better and clearer understanding on how Mr. Duterte's political ideologies affected his tactics and approaches in his political career during his rule as a Mayor of Davao City, and now as the Philippine Supreme Leader. The aspects explored in this research paper are the socialist and leftist sides of Mr. Duterte as a political leader, his way of governance as a mayor, his early presidency, as well as an analysis on his political standpoint on certain issues with regards to his position and ideologies. Through data analysis of documentary videos and written report, the research team was able to assess former Mayor Duterte's political ideologies used as a strategy, and provide answers on why and how he was able to continue his socialist and leftist views in managing a whole country. Ultimately, the very essence of this research is to enlighten everyone on what could be in store for Filipinos during President Duterte's six-year term, since this paper provides facts and evaluation on his previous and current rule. Keywords Duterte, leftist, socialist, political ideology, strategy, administration INTRODUCTION expectations from every President elected by the majority of the citizens. The desire to have an The effectiveness of a national government, or a effective government free from corruption with successful administration of a state will always be peace and order all over the Philippine archipelago attributed to the highest ranking political leader of is expected by all Filipino citizens to be fulfilled the land - which is the President or the Head of by the elected Head of State. The current, as well State in the Philippine set-up. Over the past few as the 16th President of the Philippines, Rodrigo decades, the Filipinos have always yearned for a Roa Duterte is no exception. Amidst all the better government and have created high Background of the Study

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controversial issues circulating locally and internationally about President Duterte, the citizens of this country are still anticipating and hoping for the good changes in the present administration brought by his entirely different leadership style compared to his predecessors. The 83% trust and approval ratings of President Duterte as of December, 2016 by Pulse Asia, manifested that most Filipinos still believe that President Duterte's strategy is effective in administering the affairs of the whole country. His successful seven terms as a former Davao City Mayor, with all the achievements he brought to the said city, is one of the factors why many expect him to be an effective Supreme Leader. His political standpoint before as a Mayor is unwavering even now as a President; and everyone wonders whether his previous political views and strategies will prove to be effective in a nationwide administration by the end of his six-year term as the Head of State.

socialism are ideologies.

his

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prominent

political

Former Mayor ―Digong‖, as he is fondly called by many Filipinos, had always been forthright in labelling himself as a leftist. Merriam-Webster defines a leftist as a person who advocates and adheres to the doctrines, principles and views of the left. Left-wing is a political ideology, defined as the portion of the political spectrum associated in general with egalitarianism and popular or state control of the major institutions of political and economic life, which tends to regard social welfare as the most important goal of government (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017). In one of Mr. Duterte's previous interviews with the press, he had proudly professed his leftist leanings, saying, ―Left man gyud ko. Ang akong partido Bayan. Dili ko na ilimod. Tinuod man na. (I am really Left. My party is Bayan. I will not deny that. That is true)."(Espejo, 2015). His association with the leftist-communist groups had been well-known by the public, with his history as a former member of the Kabataang Makabayan and student of communist party founder Jose Maria Sison.

Davao City’s Leftist and Socialist Mayor Before assuming presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte had served seven terms as Mayor of Davao City, which ranked as fourth safest city in the world and first in Asia in 2015. In addition to being a former Congressman and vice-mayor, he is a lawyer by profession as well as a former prosecutor, who held the chair of the Mayor for twenty-two years.

Mayor Digong advocated peace and order with dealing with the leftists, and had compromised politically to benefit the said left-wing populist group, manifesting his focus on fostering relationships (Laya and Marquez, 2011). It had also been reported several times during his term as a mayor, that he would often visit New People's Army (NPA) camps and had regular talks to establish relationship that is favorable for both the Davaoeño community and the other leaders of the opposition. He had also facilitated the release of prisoners of political war and addressed the concerns of the communities where the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and New People‘s Army (NPA) operated, showing his close ties with these revolutionary groups. Another proof of the said beneficial relationship was appointing representatives of the Lumad and Moro communities as vice-mayors by Mayor Digong.

As the Davao City's administrator, he used his political ideologies as a strategy in managing the affairs of the city, which were evidently successful and effective. Political ideology, a form of social or political philosophy, is a system of ideas that aspires both to explain the world and to change it (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017). It shapes an individual's stance on the government's role in economic and social issues (Dallas Learning Cloud, 2017). As for Mr. Duterte, left-wing and

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definition, Duterte is recognized as a ―strongman‖ politician of Davao City. His legacy was notable for it was able to transform the city with this kind of leadership.

Such actions made by Mr. Duterte also added up to the reasons why he was a socialist mayor. Socialism, the standard leftist ideology, accepts the responsibility of government to provide a variety of services to the poor and working classes and so embraces the welfare state (Dallas Learning Cloud, 2017). A self-proclaimed socialist, former Mayor Duterte once said, ―I just happen to be a socialist. Sosyalista ang akong panlantaw sa katilingban (I have a socialist perspective for our society)." (Espejo, 2015). With both Christian and Muslim roots, he had protected the rights and interests of minority groups in Davao by launching various progressive programmes (Heydarian, 2016). Malcolm Guy (2016), an anti-imperialist activist, wrote an online journal about former Mayor Duterte being a socialist and stated that "Duterte has been strongly supportive of marginalized minorities, including Moro Muslims and their call for greater autonomy, and is an advocate for gay marriage and LGBT rights."

Based on Philippine National Police‘s official crime statistics for 2012, Region 11, specifically Davao City, had a total population of 1,689,950 who are involved in different crimes which made the city to be known as the highest crime rate in the Philippines. However, when Rodrigo Duterte took over Sara Duterte‘s place as a mayor again, he was able to transform Davao and was recognized as the most livable and safest city in the country. Being inclined with politics for almost thirty years, Bilveer Sing (2016) labelled Duterte as a gamechanger of Mindanao. According to his study, his twenty two long years as mayor of Davao brought drastic change to the city. As one being recognized as a ―strongman‖, he proved that with his powerful political will and mandate as he seated as president, he would be able to achieve everything that he promised to the country and its constituents

In his rule as a socialist mayor, he made sure that members of progressive organizations in Davao City had been given full leeway in exercising their political and civil rights. There had been several social projects and advocacies in which he had partnered with these organizations. Former Mayor Duterte may have displayed sexist attitude towards women, but he had been active in providing good programs that promoted gender equality and women‘s empowerment in his city.

Aside from being known as one of the safest cities in the world, Davao City also maintained peace and order under Duterte‘s term starting from the year of 1988. He strived for restoring and maintaining law and order though these times were troublesome for it was the pre-martial law years. However, he managed an equilibrium of peace and development efforts to steady growth of the city. Moreover, his following terms proved his will as strongman. He was able to rationalize public service in Davao, not only for Davaoneos but also for the Muslim people residing in the city; thus, it helped to further flourish growth of the city. He was also able to give more than seven land mark legislations for the city as part of maintaining peace and order. Other than this, Duterte formulate a framework for social services and disaster protection awareness.

Davao’s ―Strongman‖ According to Inquirer, strongman is defined as a projection of tough-talking behavior that also perceives the concept of paternalism in ruling toward his constituents with addition of personal power. It is also defined that a strongman is known by its readiness to initiate force to punish troublemakers and to be the defender of the oppressed whom he promised justice. With the

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strongman political leader. Lastly, the research team reviewed "The Early Duterte Presidency in the Philippines"(2016) by Mark Thompson, to analyze Mr. Duterte's transition from being a Mayor to becoming a President who still has the same set of political ideologies.

The mentioned achievements of Duterte were only few of the many. Thus, this proved that Duterte has the strongman concept as he entered the politics. His tenacity to bring Davao city into a better position was notched up through all his attainments for the twenty two long years as mayor.

Statement of the Problem Review of Related Literature Bigger responsibilities and greater challenges await President Rodrigo Duterte now that he is running a country and governing a whole nation, compared to the city he once ruled.

The research group gathered supporting ideas and information from scholarly articles, journals and studies that are helpful in strengthening the purpose of this study. The "Epitome of Political Leadership in Rodrigo R. Duterte" (2012) by Mona Laya and Jason Marquez was particularly helpful in describing Duterte‘s leadership style as a Mayor, and in supporting his claims of being a leftist. In studying President Duterte as a socialist mayor before, the researchers were able to gather some supporting details from "What Duterte Portends for Philippine Foreign Policy"(2016)by Prof. Richard Javad Heydarian. Malcolm Guy's paper entitled, "Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte: A Socialist in Disguise?" (2016) was also a good related literature with this study since it also discusses Mr. Duterte as a leftist and socialist. "Duterte: Delivering the Promised Peace to Mindanao"(2016) by Bilveer Singh was used to support this study's analysis on Duterte as a

That being said, this study focuses on how the political ideologies of Duterte as a Mayor continues in his administration as a President. Through this study, the researchers aim to provide answers to the following problems: 

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Why is Duterte‘s presidency a continuance of the enactment of his political ideologies in his strategy as a Mayor? How does President Rodrigo Duterte effectively carry on his previous political views, strategies, and leadership style as a former Davao City Mayor with his position now as the Supreme Leader of the Philippines?

METHODOLOGY The researchers want to study why and how Duterte applies his political ideologies as a mayor into his presidency.

analyzing the transcripts, grouping together comments on similar themes and attempting to interpret them, and draw conclusions to be able to obtain a valid data. The following documentary videos were used by the research team for data analysis:

For this paper, qualitative method of research is utilized. Analysis of the different scholarly writings, documentaries and different topic reviews relating the topic were used to be able to gather data for this research.

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The researchers used this method of data collection for it generates to systematically

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Rappler's #TheLeaderIWant: Leadership, Duterte-style (October, 2016) In this interview, it was perceived how Duterte managed to progress Davao City after sitting for years and now as a

platforms and greatest achievement that lead to Davao City being known not only nationwide, but even across the world. To support how he was able to progress Davao City, this paper extracted his achievements from this this documentary and used it to peruse the purpose of this paper.

presidential candidate, he was known to be a ‗meta-candidate‘, one who changes the very conception of expectations. The documentary expressed how Former Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was a realist one, during his terms as mayor, could be able to bring up his leadership style if he could grope the presidency. In this interview, his conceptions as Mayor to his presidency will be the main focus to further analyze and scrutinize this paper. 

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101 East's A President's Report Card Rodrigo Duterte (November, 2016) In this exclusive interview, Former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte expressed his achievements in his short time governance as the President of the Republic of the Philippines. Particularly, this interview revolves on how he was able to carry out his manifestos as Davao City Mayor into his presidency. Although main points of the interview were concerning on his program over drugs and criminality, parts on how he was able to flourish Davao City and how he implements his strategy then and now will be used to support the objective of the paper.

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The Legacy of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (February, 2013) This documentary expressed the progress of Davao City when the city was under the rule of Duterte. Through all his achievement back from his first term as a mayor to his last term, it was showed how he was able to manage development and stability of the city for twenty eight years. The documentary listed all his successful

Professor Richard Heydarian ABC Interview on Duterte's Peace Plans (February, 2017) In this video clip, a female anchor of ABC World News interviews Professor Richard Heydarian, a political scientist and analyst from the Philippines. The interview centered on the current affairs regarding the peace talks and plans under the Duterte administration with the communist groups in the country. It shows Prof. Heydarian's insights and commentary on the rift between President Duterte and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It also included controversial issues about the police force of the country, briefly explained by the interviewee. The researchers used the information gathered from this video to further assess and analyze President Duterte's strategy as a leftist in his early presidency.

National People's Summit's Duterte's First 100 days: Significant achievements, intensifying contradictions (October, 2016) This is a short documentation of National People's Summit's report on the status of the People's Agenda during President Duterte's first 100 days in office. People's Agenda is a product of a series of nationwide consultations among different sectors of Philippine society and buoyed by the hope that the Duterte administration

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will be serious in its promise of achieving real change for the benefit of the Filipino people. This document serves as a report on what transpired at the National People's Summit held on the 29th of July, 2016; where a 15-point agenda had been laid out as well as more specific recommendations contained in five areas of concern. These areas are Economy, Progressive Social Policy, Peace and Human Rights, National Sovereignty and Foreign Policy, and Governance and Democracy. This report also includes an assessment on the performance of President Duterte's administration in his first 100 days; concisely identifying both the positive and negative aspects as well as the favorable and unfavorable outcomes. The research team focused on obtaining information from this report regarding the achievements made by President Duterte and how he carried out

his plans on progressive programs and peace talks, which manifest his political ideology as the Head of State. 

First State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte In this speech, The President cited his future plans for the country‘s development. He emphasized in his first State of the Nation Address the problems that Philippines has been facing since the past administration and how he would addressed it. Moreover, Duterte uttered his plans being aligned with what was his system in Davao. The speech also included the plans and background of Davao that was mentioned, which will be the focus of the study in order to answer and foster development the paper.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Back to his term as a mayor, Duterte was able to implement the Development Code in Davao City, the first-of-its kind in the history of the Philippines. According to the documentary titled The Legacy of Duterte, it stated that the Women Development Code that he implemented on July 27, 1998 is to subject to a comprehensive and integrated approach to protect women in his city, to have equal rights as men in building a better city and most of all is to be able to reduce crime against women. Moreover, Duterte supports the LGBT community. In the year 2009, he criticized the Commission on Election for removing the Ang Ladlad Partylist, a group which represents the Filipino gays and lesbians. Thus, he implemented an ordinance in the year 2012 whereas the rights of the LGBT community were considered. This ordinance made Davao City an LGBT-Friendly community. In one of his TV