Rodrigo Duterte’s Early Presidency

Christian B. Mendoza Speech 30 THX-32018 00308 Prof. Mary Jannette PinzonA Duterte indorser Critical Essays on Rodrigo Dutertes Early Presidencyby Nicole Curato (editor)Filipino political landscape is always subject to change, with the emergence of conflicting political ideologies embodied and honest by former and current political leaders. One of the defining beacons in the Philippine history was the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolutiona nonviolent hatful demonstration that sought to overthrow the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos. Since then, governance in the Philippines has been consistent with the reformist, albeit elitist, narrative of the liberal democratic regime (Teehankee, 2016), as opposed to the imperious regime of Marcos.A shift to another form of government, however, does not necessarily mean that the countrys condition would be improved in all aspects. In fact, flock in authority baffle fai take to deliver on their promises of initiating much needed reforms t o conceive remarkable socioeconomic and political transformations. Therefore, the existences petition to bring about forceful solutions to the ills of the country was fulfilled by the sweeping electoral triumph of a former prosecutor and long-time mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, who now serves as the 16th and current chair of the re semipublic.Written by several scholars in academic disciplines, A Duterte Reader endeavors to belowstand the type of regime that the country now faces under the Duterte administration. It seeks to establish the factors that led to Dutertes landslide electoral victory in the 2016 presidential elections, and to examine the origin and level of promote that the public has for his deadly war on drugs, which he vehemently declared to be the roughly pressing issue in the country.Moreover, the carry sheds light on the legacy of American Imperialism in the country, and how it became a catalyst or one of the immediate causes to ignite a revolution among Filipino people, who dumbfound long been subject to systemic oppressions triggered by the machi kingdoms of the ruling class and the culture of elitism that it has instituted.The most striking parts of the book are the obvious manifestations of Dutertes presidential campaign slogan Change is coming. Since his inauguration as the 16th President of the Philippines last June 30, 2016, these manifestations have surfaced in ways that prompted the public to engage in political discourse over all forms of social media.The driving force behind the citizens political conjunction is that there is someone who finally recognizes their repressed anger towards social, economic and political injustices from which they have been suffering since the prevalence of elitism emanating from liberal democracy.To counter these injustices, Duterte has acutely focused on the obliteration of the illegal drug trade in the country through his controversial war on drugs. The rampant extrajudicial killin gs executed by besmirch police officers and vigilantes, who have no regard for the victims human rights, are being justified by Dutertes portrayal of drug trade as something that poses a major threat to society and national security.Meanwhile, a certain chapter in the book was interesting to read in a sense that it is constantly encountered by people who use various social media platforms. Written by Cabaes and Cornelio, The Rise of Trolls in the Philippines discusses the emergence of online political trolls, and its impact to promoting a democratic media in the country. This chapter as well as introduces Mocha Uson, a key figure in contemporary Philippine social media, who has branded herself as the voice of the ordinary people. The opportunity to enumerate the propagation when she has deliberately spread fake news in social media (Arias, 2017) was neglected by these two contributors.A Duterte Reader enables the readers to be mindful and critical of the affairs efflorescence b efore their very eyes, especially in an era where the proliferation of disinformation, or commonly referred to as fake news, has hindered netizens from accusatoryly engaging in political discourse online (Bueno, 2017).The book gives a panoramic view of the Philippine political history, starting from the historic EDSA Revolution to an impending shift to a federal system of government under the Duterte regime, which would certainly leave a long-lasting impact to the countrys political landscape. In addition, the book allows the readers to scrutinize the reasons why some people constantly extend their support for Duterte, or why they should not turn a blind eye to how Duterte intends to solve these issues.Between the pages of the book is a messagesimilar to the one that went viral online last March 2018for the readers to ponder on Kapag namulat ka sa katotohanan, kasalanan na ang pumikit, roughly translating to Once youve opened your eyes to the truth, its a mistake to close them agai n. Based from the plethora of insights that the contributors have provided in this book, the readers should be able to discern this message.The book was written from a trinity-person point of view since the contributors wanted to discuss the factors affecting the politics of Duterte in an objective manner thus, presenting both sides of the matter accordingly. The readers could somehow agree with what the contributors have stated regarding the several affairs of the country.They could observe the relevance of the information contained in the book when Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 23, 2018. He discussed the topics about different sectors such as businesses, conditions of the OFWs, his War on Drugs, foreign relations, agrarian sector, and tax reforms (Ranada, 2018). virtually of the root causes of the points highlighted in his speechpersistent intervention of the American government in domestic political and economic affairs, and the incomp etence of the previous administrationshave been exhaustively analyzed by the contributors.Moreover, it is important to recognize the contribution that the book offers to the public since everything they have included in the book is a product of Dutertes persuasive public speeches, which hinge on the three primary elements of Aristotles Model of Communication ethos, pathos and logos (Timonera, 2018).As each chapter is written through comprehensive research, coupled with an take off of trustworthy references, the book could be included in the auxiliary reading materials for students of various academic fields, specifically students of politics or could be used by authors and researchers as their reference material when writing about certain issues that the book failed to include. Nevertheless, the book is certainly for anyone who wants to fathom this confounding event in the history of Philippine politics.ReferencesArias, J. (2017). A list of Mocha Usons fake news posts. Preen. Retr ieved from http//preen.inquirer.net/58185/a-list-of-mocha-usons-fake-news-postsBueno, A. (2017). The anatomy of fake news. CNN Philippines. Retrieved from http//cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/politics/2017/10/12/fake-news-anatomy.htmlRanada, P. (2018). Quick point-by-point summary of Dutertes SONA 2018. Rappler. Retrieved from https//www.rappler.com/nation/208050-duterte-sona-2018-philippines-summaryTeehankee, J. C. (2016). Weak state, strong presidents Situating the Duterte presidency in Philippine political time. Journal of Developing Societies, 32(3), 1-29. doi 10.1177/0169796X16654594Timonera, P. G. (2018). The rhetoric of President Dutertes speeches and the Aristotelian conception of the rhetoric and public sphere.Paper presented at 25th World Congress of Political Science, Brisbane, Australia. Retrieved from https//wc2018.ipsa.org/sites/default/files/ipsa-events/wc2018/papers/paper-101491-2018-07-01t111647-0400.pdf