Philippine 'People Power' at 35: a strange metamorphosis under Duterte
On Thursday, the Philippines will mark the 35th anniversary of the largely peaceful insurrection that overthrew dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986. The uprising captivated the global media and garnered international praise, showing that an authoritarian ruler could be overthrown by millions of civilian protesters. Among its most iconic images were nuns holding flowers and kneeling in front of government soldiers.
Even where the origins of the term were forgotten, Philippine "People Power" became a template for pro-democracy uprisings in Asia - in South Korea in 1987, Myanmar in 1988, China in 1989 and Indonesia in 1998 - as well as beyond, with former dissident and Czech president Vaclav Havel having thanked Filipinos for helping inspire the 1989 Eastern European democratic revolutions.
But within the Philippines itself, the view of People Power has undergone a strange metamorphosis. Corazon C. Aquino, the widow of an assassinated opposition leader who became president after the heavily manipulated snap presidential elections of early February 1986 that sparked the uprising, died in 2009. A huge funeral was held in which she was praised for restoring democracy by toppling the corrupt Marcos regime. Her son, Benigno S. Aquino III, won the 2010 presidential election by proclaiming himself the rightful heir of a political movement to strengthen democracy, eliminate corruption and eradicate poverty.
Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.
But when Rodrigo R. Duterte was elected as Benigno Aquino's successor in mid-2016, he launched a bloody "war on drugs" that killed thousands and involved "systematic extrajudicial killings with near impunity" for police, according to a recent United Nations report. He had an opposition senator jailed on dubious drug charges (but more plausibly for criticising his drug war), targeted local officials accused of having drug links (with several killed in gangland-style hits), and attacked the independent media (with noted local journalist Maria Ressa facing multiple libel suits).
Duterte even paid tribute to Marcos - granting his family's wish for a "hero's burial" denied by his predecessors after the dictator's death in 1989.
Yet Duterte is more closely linked to Philippine People Power than is commonly realised. Duterte's mother, Soledad, was a strong supporter of Cory Aquino. After becoming president, Cory appointed Rodrigo deputy mayor of the southern city of Davao, and he became mayor just two years later. When Duterte ran for president in 2016, he was the candidate of a party founded to oppose the Marcos dictatorship. Even the current targeting of leftist activists through "red-tagging" of supposed communist sympathisers fits a pattern of human rights abuses that occurred during previous presidencies (including the administrations of Cory and Benigno Aquino) that were dependent on the armed forces to shore up political power.
Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino, centre, in December 2000. Photo: Reuters
For most Filipinos, it now seems to be Duterte, the most popular post-Marcos president, who embodies the "people" in People Power. The pro-Aquino "yellows" - People Power was also called the "Yellow Revolution" - are widely seen as out of touch, with their human rights discourse and promises of political reform no longer resonating as corruption has persisted and the vast majority of Filipinos have remained poor.
After being battered by Marcos' corrupt rule, the Philippine economy recovered, becoming one of the region's fastest growing economies. But by failing to undertake significant land reform, loosen a narrow oligarchy's stranglehold on the economy, fund social welfare adequately, and launch a major industrialisation drive while increasing low agricultural productivity rather than focusing largely on the service sector, growth proved highly unequal, doing too little to help the poor.
Patronage politics, necessary for getting things done in a country with a highly personalised political system and weak parties, institutionalised corruption and made building strong institutions difficult.
Duterte took advantage of this economic lopsidedness and institutional weakness. His "brute force" governance (particularly the drug war but also exemplified by the abrupt six-month closure of the popular resort island of Boracay) often places order above law, promising quick results. His vulgar speaking style underlined his political authenticity. He out-Trumped Trump, commanding the loyal support of not just a minority base but of the overwhelming majority of the country's citizens.
This helps explain why the Philippines, a seemingly stable electoral democracy, proved susceptible to strongman rule. This created an opportunity skilfully exploited by Duterte, who promised "real change" - a pledge that proved hollow, with the brutal killings in the drug war having largely targeting the urban poor and his government's highly militarised and mismanaged pandemic response resulting in the highest caseload per capita in Southeast Asia and one of the region's steepest economic declines.
Duterte's pro-China stance has not led to the hoped-for influx of large Chinese infrastructure projects and major investment, nor to an easing of tensions around disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea.
But most Filipinos continue to support Duterte's claim that he is their true champion after the dashed expectations of three-and-a-half decades of flawed liberal democratic governance.
Mark R. Thompson is head of the department of Asian and International Studies and director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre at City University of Hong Kong.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
