Duterte's Philippines Is Getting More Corrupt

I can endorse what Maley has said having visited the Philippines over the last few weeks, the airport is calmer with few touts, we had a driver and talking to him about Duterte he has a strong belief things are moving in the right direction a lot of the time. He talked about Manila and drugs and drink that in the past users would just shoot you because they had nothing better to do now its safer. My father in law and brothers in law believe in Duterte non of them are poor and have a fairly good level of education.
As I moved about on my travels (including Manila at night) I certainly felt an air of less tension, I am sure that there are still tensions however.
Maley makes a very valid point about charisma and also the press wanting to decry the president because he wont cower to the American wants, yes there have been killings yes there are problems and have been for a long long time,its very eaasy however from a distance to interpret media reports to your own viewpoint.

Maley has summed it up very well

Well said..
Ask most that actually live here and they will agree with you...Ask those living abroad and they will give you their perspective which they gained from the media.

Spot on Boots. It's so easy for outsiders to judge the situation there, but without first hand knowledge you have no idea of the many issues that Duterte is facing including a totally biassed hostile media. Everybody that I know in Philippines, and they are not poor and uneducated, support him completely and see some hope for a better future with him at the helm.

But by the same line of thinking, you could say that anyone who is not living in the UK could not be sufficiently informed to comment on the UK. But they do.

My comments are of course as an outsider - and based on what I have read.

Setting aside his disgusting comments about gay people, women, rape victims, Hitler and the Shoah the kicker for me - and I contend any civilised, democracy-loving person is that he is a murderer - and has unleashed death squads to kill thousands of poor Filipinos - most of whom were pathetic shaba users...caught in a grinding cycle of poverty, indifference and hopelessness.

As usual the fat cats who profit from this miserable trade are seldom in the firing line.

How anyone can condone murder - because that's exactly what an extra-judicial killing is - is beyond me.

Those who support Duterte's methods must ask themselves when do they think the killings will cease - how many tens or hundreds of thousands will be slaughtered in the "war on drugs"? Do you realise that Duterte does not distinguish between pusher and user - they'll apparently all end up in Manila Bay.

I pity the poor single Mother whose son puts himself in the firing range by using drugs. She may find herself weeping over his lifeless body - another victim of this maniac's mad policies.

Duterte had a chance when he took office to make a real difference - to drain the swamp of corruption and to encourage adherence to democratic principles and values. To explain to his people that there has to be due process - with SUSPECTED criminals subject to a fair trial - and not summarily executed.

A few have said the Philippines is a quieter, more peaceful, place. I expect the citizens of Germany said exactly the same once Hitler became Chancellor and extirpated all opposition and introduced draconian laws to curtail freedom of expression. I've no doubt the benighted people of North Korea feel exactly the same today.

I expect the "peace" in the Philippines to be short term and largely illusiory.

Is anyone here prepared to admit Duterte is a killer who should be on trial for his crimes?

On the war on drugs, his objective is good. His method is not.

You seem to totally disregard what Filipinos such as the very articulate Maley and those of us who live (or lived) in the country say from first hand experience. Why - because their accounts contradict your rose-tinted, liberal socialist view of how things should be?

In the ten or so months since Duterte was elected, support for him has gone up. Filipinos applaud what he is doing and want him to continue the job of cleaning-up the country. Their pride in their country is being restored by a president they are rightly proud of.

You want due process: a very laudable aim but do you know how long it is (on average) between arrest and a court hearing? A day? A week? A fortnight? Any idea at all? How about six months to a year - and then the hearing might be adjourned for a month or two because the prosecutor had left the relevant file in his office, or simply fails to show up which happens quite often. You can not compare the justice system you're used with that of the Philippines, they are totally different and serve the rich but not the poor.

Do you really believe this:

If so, you are so wrong. I didn't imagine Davao to be safe and more peaceful than elsewhere in the Philippines - I and others experienced that at first hand, I certainly didn't dream it.

You really do insult Filipinos with your insinuations that they are similar to Germans under Hitler's Nazi rule. Duterte hasn't introduced any "draconian laws to curtail freedom of expression" nor is he ever likely to. It seems to me that today's self-styled "Progressives" are all too frequently given to likening any regime that is to the right of their socialist beliefs to the Nazis. How wrong; how sad.

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The foregoing was written before I had read your response in a similar thread in "News" and I'm sorry if what I say above is a little harsh.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/01/philippines-the-police-murderous-war-on-the-poor/

http://internationaljournalism280.com/philippines-press-freedom-and-president-duterte/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/11/philippines-cynical-apologists-dutertes-brutal-drug-war

https://www.cfr.org/interview/human-rights-and-dutertes-war-drugs

Nice guy huh?

Bit of an understatement!

Am trying to meet some folk halfway. If one does not do that, then all hell breaks loose, such is the balance and dynamic of the membership here.

I cant change your opinion of the man. I can only hope history is kinder to him than what news media is projecting him.

As mentioned, first, media is out to destroy him so any reports are not to be believed at face value. Second, i hope the international body who conducts this rankings not only consider killing as part of corruption. More important factors such as delivery of basic services to ordinary people should be taken into account which i can attest to being less corrupt.

Third and most importantly, not all killings of the 'innocent' are sponsored by the state. Majority are actually conducted by the drug lords to clean up their ranks to prevent the govt tracing it back at someone important (politician, rich people, etc).

Filipinos are prouder and more confident than ever with him at the helm. At least he is making a stand and they know he is working hard as humanly possible to ensure that ph get the best shot at their future (you can see and feel the passion he has for ph) without any political agenda and that alone is better than any 'world leader'.

Currently, i would prefer duterte over any leaders of UK's main political parties. I havent seen one leader embody that same passion without advancing personal agenda.

I have noticed that there are no gun battle gangster's in my neighbour hood since Duterte came to power. Also crime rate has dropped, and no more police taking back handers. It use to be like Dodge city shooting across the streets. Yeah come over and live here for a while.

I have lived there for a while. It happens that my Filipino friends are not adherents of Duterte, so no doubt I see a different picture.

I notice that by and large those people who post here and who look forward to Brexit under the strong and stable rule of Theresa May are very often the same people who say that the Philippines is a much safer and less corrupt nation under the strong and stable rule of President Duterte.

I am sure this is a co-incidence.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/09/16/drug-related-killings-in-philippines-on-the-decline

Maybe a little hope of moving forward

I too have lived there for a few years... and been backwards and forwards to the place for 27 years.

Yes, I voted to leave the EU. (Sorry if that has anyone choking on their cornflakes. ).

My relatives (in Pangasinan) mostly seem to disapprove of their President... though it's not a popular topic of conversation, so the 'sample' is small. One or two alleged drug dealers have bitten the dust close to my residence. I can't comment on whether or not it had anything to do with the President's policies on such things though.

I avoid discussing politics with the locals anyway. Not always good for one's health or for 'positive relationship building'... especially if some Tanduay or Ginebra has been consumed.

I would have had a chat about it with the only other foreign resident in our small town, but unfortunately, he received 5 bullets to the head earlier this year.

I think that is a wise rule in the provinces. In the words of the testament bequeathed to his heirs by Mitsui Takatoshi, the seventeenth century founder of the Mitsui zaibatsu, "Always show respect to the honourable men in power" ...

If your comment was aimed at me, I actually do tend to agree, for that reason I rarely make comments about UK or its politics, other than I hate the weather there. Does gall a bit though, that as a non-resident Brit "expat", I am not entitled to free NHS health care during the limited amount of time that I do spend there. However, I do accept that those are the rules and I accept them.

Ive not been back home for 10 years so I should not comment really...The only reason I do is that I am in constant contact with family AND I have a lot of Brit mates here that go back and forth for one reason or another..
I get good and bad reports but reading between the lines,my crystal ball I had back then was a pretty good investment!!

You're not missing much mate.

Maybe loonies from the left could have done better, Keep the border's open let more Isis in.
Now for Philippines, free drugs for all, free guns go on shoot each other.
No thanks, it was very unsafe before Duterte, I feel a lot safer now, thank you very much.