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How Duterte reinvented the presidency

RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/10/4/100416_digong.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">President Rodrigo Duterte. Ace Morandante, Malacanang Photo</div></figcaption></figure></div>MANILA – Rodrigo Roa Duterte has only been in office as the 16th President of the Philippines for 100 days but to many, it feels like he&#x27;s been President for years already. That&#x27;s because in those 100 days, so much has happened as he hit the ground running to deliver his campaign promise that &quot;change is coming.&quot; One political analyst attributes those to the change that indeed came to the presidency—as Duterte reinvents the office through the so-called politics of repudiation and politics of shock.De La Salle University (DLSU) dean and political scientist JulioTeehankee said, &quot;What is he doing actually is he is breaking down the old order. Binibiyak niya ang lumang sistema ng pamumulitika dito, ang lumang sistema ng pamamahala, ang lumang pakikipagugnayan sa ibang bansa.&quot;(What is he doing actually is he is breaking down the old order. He is breaking down the old system of politicking, the old system of governance, the old system of foreign relations.)Teehankee pointed out that while his predecessors consolidated power at this point in their presidencies, Duterte is actually doing the opposite. &quot;That’s the reason why from my perspective what the president is doing is the politics of repudiation. He is actually repudiating the old order in order to build something new. He is breaking down the old order and you know that’s the reason why his style is so acerbic,&quot; he said.&quot;Immediately after his victory and shortly after he assumed office, it was thought that the presidency will change Rodrigo Duterte. But apparently, after 100 days, what we are seeing is that President Duterte is actually transforming the nature of our presidency. For the longest time, we have not seen this kind of presidential style. Similar to the DJ’s shock DJ, siya ay isang shock politician. Dinadaan tayo sa gulpe de gulat na tinatawag (He is a ‘shock politician’),&quot; Teehankee added.In his early days in office, Duterte has tussled with the media, the Catholic Church, the women&#x27;s, LGBT and PWD sectors, human rights groups, the camp of Senator Leila de Lima, the US, the European Union, the United Nations to name a few. This, while he is also noticed for his empathy for the poor, the downtrodden, the victims of crime and illegal drugs and those who suffered because of bad government services.University of the Philippines (UP) public administration professor Edna Co pointed out how grounded and rooted Duterte is. &quot;He very clearly articulates where his heart is and if we understand that nanggagaling doon sa kaniyang mahabang karanasan bilang isang mayor of a city for a long time kaya napaka grounded and rooted ng kaniyang sentimyento at ito ay pinapakita niya doon sa kaniyang polisiya at patakaran, at sa kaniyang linggwahe rin na kung saan ang puso niya para doon sa, para pabor sa mga maliliit, sa mahihirap komunidad, and this is really very commendable as a leader.&quot;(He very clearly articulates where his heart is and if we understand that, it comes from his lengthy experience as a mayor of a city. His experience has made him grounded. This shows in his policy and regulations, in his language. He has a heart for the poor and that is very commendable for a leader.)For his part, UP political science professor Ranjit Rye pointed out that what is happening to Senator de Lima also send a chilling effect to Duterte&#x27;s critics. De Lima recently lost her committee chairmanship as she has been in the president&#x27;s crosshairs since she has been critical of the war on drugs. &quot;It’s a chilling effect if you go beyond bounds and attack the president in a particular way.&quot;But while Teehankee believes Duterte has picked too many fights in just 100 days, he does not think those fights have weakened Duterte. &quot;We have a president who is actually a student of power politics. I think that all of these are calculated on his part. I think he is an astute student of Machiavelli. He knows the principle of Machiavelli that any new prince assuming power should implement whatever negative thing he or she has in mind in the first few days of rule. I think he is following that principle and I hope after that after repudiating the old, the next few years would be devoted to building something new out of this repudiation,&quot; he explained.However, Teehankee warned him he might expend his political capital sooner than he needs to. &quot;If he is not careful, he might expend all his political capital. Remember, Joseph Estrada was as popular when he was first elected in the first year. After two years, all his political capital was gone and he was quite popular with the masses at the rate President Duterte is going. Picking fights left and right, he might expend all of his political capital at a faster rate, so that is his lookout,&quot; he added.Teehankee also said Duterte is not the first president to be like this. &quot;He’s not the first. Even President Quezon was known to have been very colorful in his language, especially against the American colonizers. Yes, acerbic and the use of the ‘P-word.’ but in Spanish and also the man who could have been president, Manila Mayor Lacson was also known to have been as colorful,&quot; Teehankee added.Teehankee pointed out that Duterte quickly fleshed out his agenda in five fronts in his first 100 days—the war on drugs, the peace process, constitutional reforms, socio-economic reforms and an independent foreign policy. &quot;The peace process has advanced both with the Left and the Bangsamoro has advanced by heaps and bounds as compared to the other administration. This president, at least with the peace talks with the NDF-CPP-NPA, has accomplished so much. [It is] equivalent to 3 years of peace talks.&quot;“For the first time, we are seeing a president who&#x27;s willing to implement the constitutional principle of an independent foreign policy. For some, these are just words but for this president, he is taking it seriously. To paraphrase the former national security adviser, General Jose Almonte, the definition of an independent foreign policy is we are not against anyone, but we are equidistant to everyone.&quot;Duterte announced the pursuit of independent foreign policy just as the U.S. began to lambaste him for his bloody war on drugs. Teehankee believes there is a reason for this. &quot;Well, let’s put it this way. He&#x27;s a strategic thinker. He utilized the American criticism on his war on drugs as an excuse to distance his administration from the U.S. security alliance, so that he can open up bilateral talks with China. He is using criticism against his domestic policy to open up an avenue for him to explore a foreign policy channel for bilateral talks with china,&quot; Teehankee said.In his first month in office, Duterte was handed a legal victory by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the case filed by the Aquino administration against China over the West Philippine Sea.Again, Teehankee said caution must be exercised here because it could spell the difference between his success and survival.&quot;In fact, (it was) dangerous. The president is playing a very dangerous game with this as we have seen with previous administration. The soonest the president is seen to be cozying up to the US rivals, that’s when political issues suddenly crop up and become troublesome for a particular incumbent president,&quot; he explained.Teehankee said Duterte doesn’t even have to look far for an example. &quot;For example, during the time of President GMA, as we know once she was cozying up to China joint exploration in the NBN-ZTE, that’s the time when the ‘Hello Garci’ tapes were released. So you know, these are speculation but (at) least we can see some political repercussion in this foreign policy positioning of any president for that matter&quot;On the other hand, Co believes Duterte has made the war on drugs the be-all and end-all of his administration, to the possible detriment of other aspects of governance. &quot;So, ang tingin ko nitong nakaraang 100 araw ay parang nakapako masyado doon sa usapin ng drugs ‘yung mahihirap (It seemed that the policy had been fixated on the war on drugs) and I hope he can run up with bigger and larger mileage in the days ahead to look at other dimensions of the national challenges, such as the economy (and) foreign policies as not being different from a national policy. The connectedness of the different population in the country. (We have) a mixture, a range of a population that the president must also embrace and represent.&quot;Rye added that &quot;there&#x27;s a growing number of people who are becoming skeptical both within the Philippines and outside about the governance style of the president, especially on the issue of extrajudicial killings (and) his foreign policy positions.” You can see that in his daily reactions, he is also affected by the minority perception,&quot; Rye explained.Co noted that while one cannot argue with Duterte&#x27;s intentions, there are questions on his methodologies. &quot;There is a growing voice of questions being raised, more questions being raised again on how do we operationalize the fight against drugs, the fight against criminality because at the core of any presidency and any administration and policy is that one has to be done not only according to the rule of law, but also in the most humane and the most responsive and responsible way of carrying out the campaign against drugs and criminality.Veteran PR man Carlos Agatep said he thinks the President should also learn to live with the media.&quot;I don’t have any offense here to mean. (I think) President Duterte needs to be media-trained because he often speaks off the cuff impression. He says one thing and denies the next time…If i were the president, I&#x27;d avoid making statements to the press without carefully preparing his messages and rehearsing them very well because the way he appears on camera, the tone of his voice, his body language, all emphasize the messages,&quot; Agatep explained.He added the President must be conscious that every time he faces the media, his words and actions are on the record.&quot;He should be very careful about the tone of his voice, he must not curse,&quot; he said.For Agatep, less talk also means fewer mistakes.“A sound bite is usually 10 to 20 seconds long. They should not ramble, they should not speak in long and long sentences because that makes it difficult for (a) reporter to understand what they’re saying. You have to keep (the) answers very short at saka, do not lose your cool.&quot; Agatep is suggesting that the President should not to respond to hypothetical questions and be choosy in the questions he answers.However, Co added that aside from the president himself becoming more careful with his words, another thing that has to happen is for his Cabinet to be better communicators themselves. &quot;I think the men around him, his Cabinet the people who work around him, have some difficulty in really articulating the heart and the empathy of the president and the delivery and the intent of the message,&quot; Co said.Agatep concurred. &quot;It looks like there’s no one single spokesperson and several persons are trying to decipher what the president meant. Usually, these are contradictory messages in themselves. The president should place a priority on his communications team and set down the rules himself. I wonder if the president is talking to his team often, which he should.&quot;Two former presidential spokesmen show the importance of having people who really know the mind of the president—are the ones to speak for him or her. This is regardless of their different management styles.Gloria Arroyo&#x27;s spokesperson was her own Executive Secretary, Eduardo Ermita, &quot;It is presumed (that) the cabinet secretary would know the mind of the president they are serving under, could second guess exactly what’s the meaning of what the president said before they are asked further of the meaning. (What is important is) that there is a need for closer coordination between the presidential spokesman (and the) press secretary.&quot;Corazon Aquino&#x27;s press secretary and spokesperson was her chief legal counsel, Adolf Azcuna. &quot;I would be able to know the mind of the president on any given subject because I’d see her every day and talk to her every day. I could bounce out already concerns of the moment. I have an idea how she was thinking on the topics of interest to the press.&quot;In the end Teehankee believes Duterte has no choice but to also adjust to some facets of the presidency. &quot;This kind of shock politics is only good for its immediate shock value. If you keep doing it, it will lose its effect. I think he has realized that there’s a limit to this kind of political behavior and I’m still cautiously optimistic he will grow into the presidency… This is only good for the first year, laying down the ground work for hopefully deeper and more meaningful changes that will institutionalize reforms in this country,&quot; Teehankee said.Co reminded the president he is the president of all, even those who aren’t poor or downtrodden&quot;Kung presidente ka hindi lang kasi ‘yung komunidad at mahihirap, kung hindi andiyan ‘yung middle class, andiyan ‘yung elite, ‘yung tinatawag niya na oligarchs at andiyan din ‘yung buong mundo na kung saan siya rin ‘yung leader. Bilang isang pangulo ng Pilipinas ay kailangan niya pakitununguhan, kailangan niya sabihin kung ano ang kaniyang mensahe at patakaran.&quot;(He is not only the president of the poor. His constituents include the middle class, the elite, what he calls the oligarchs, and other stakeholders. As president of the country, he must articulate his policy.)Another UP political science professor, Jean Franco, pointed out that most of the problems of the administration in its first days can be traced to poor communication, and like the other analysts, she warned that this may also damage Duterte&#x27;s political capital.“In fact, sort of weakens whatever initiatives he has already taken on during the past few months of his administration…While you have plans, the only way those plans are going to be understood by people is through a coherent communications strategy that are manned or handled by people who know you enough, who are competent enough to carry on your message consistently and coherently. I guess, it has affected his political capital already in sense that some people who may have trusted him in the first place may have second doubts for now. Most are still having (a) wait-and-see attitude,&quot; Franco explained.Rye believes Duterte&#x27;s political capital has already taken a hit—the same political capital he needs to deliver his campaign promises. “Yes, to some extent when he started, 91% hardly any distrust. I’m sure by October that number will change, but the president is still wildly popular. His program and his initiative is supported by many people (for) they find it legitimate because they feel the momentum towards change.&quot;

Rodrigo Roa Duterte has only been in office as the 16th President of the Philippines for 100 days but to many, it feels like he's been President for years already.

Rodrigo Roa Duterte has only been in office as the 16th President of the Philippines for 100 days but to many, it feels like he's been President for years already.

How Duterte reinvented the presidency

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How Duterte reinvented the presidency

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 04, 2016 05:01 AM PHT

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Updated October 04, 2016 12:44 PM PHT

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Rodrigo Duterte

first 100 days

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