The words from the final poem of Filipino national hero José Rizal seem increasingly apt today: “Farewell, my adored Land, region of the sun caressed, Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost.”
This week, in another striking act of authoritarian idiocy, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shut down the nation’s largest media broadcaster, ABS-CBN. It’s further proof that Duterte seeks a legacy of shame similar to that of his personal hero, the corrupt 1960s-1980s era president, Ferdinand Marcos.
Still, there’s no doubt as to why the president has shut down ABS-CBN. He’s infuriated by its reporting on his murderous drug war and his increasingly total disregard for the rule of law. With an ego that makes President Trump look humble by comparison, Duterte views truth through the sole prism of his own warped brain. The blackout comes after Solicitor General Jose Calida threatened the nation’s telecommunications commission against giving ABS-CBN a temporary license renewal.
But while Duterte is celebrating another feather for his authoritarian crown, his people are suffering.
ABS-CBN has long been central to the provision of entertainment and news in this nation of nearly 110 million people. But its new silence fits squarely with Duterte’s passion for destroying anything he cannot control. As Filipino journalists such as Maria Ressa have learned, holding Duterte’s government to account comes with the expectation of constant threat and possible assassination. We shouldn’t be surprised by what’s happening. Asked in 2016 how he would address threats to journalists, President-elect Duterte offered a less-than-inspiring response.
“Just because you’re a journalist,” he said, “you are not exempted from assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch.”
Duterte’s war on his people’s ability to choose what they hear and watch shouldn’t be viewed in a vacuum. It fits with the president’s increasingly surreal approach to governing. Duterte is breaking his great nation.
Rather than maintain the alliance that liberated his nation and has secured its prosperity since, Duterte has made himself a happy serf for Chinese President Xi Jinping (fortunately, the Filipino people retain national resolve). Rather than reform his economy to strengthen foreign investment, Duterte is doubling down on his “build, build, build” spending splurge. His only saving grace here has been the economic prudence of his predecessor.
But whereas former President Benigno Aquino III ruled by reason, Duterte rules by rant.
Indeed, Duterte’s increasing absurdity forces us to wonder what he might do next. Perhaps, like the insane Roman emperor Caligula, he might one day try and resolve the South China Sea crisis by ordering his military to pick up seashells as proof of his omnipotence. The Roman historian Suetonius records when Caligula deployed his legions against the Mediterranean Sea, “When no one knew or could imagine what he was going to do, he suddenly bade them gather shells and fill their helmets and the folds of their gowns, calling them ‘spoils from the Ocean, due to the Capitol and Palatine.'”
Truly, these are dark days for the Philippines.
