Saving the Duterte brand

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Rodrigo Duterte dominated the national conversation in the past weeks with his appearance in both Houses of Congress.  Prior to his attendance in the hearings of both Houses, the elder Duterte played coy, acting both uninterested and insulted for the invitations.  He titillated the nation with his ambiguous response to the invitations of Congress.  Both Houses of Congress were thrown off-balanced when Duterte finally said he will come to their hearings.

The House had already cancelled the Quad Committee hearing when Duterte announced he will attend.  Duterte’s move forced the House to reconvene the cancelled hearing to accommodate him.  Senate which was on recess on the other hand had to call for a Blue Ribbon Committee hearing to make way for the former president.

Duterte’s theatrics had one purpose – seize the initiative, dictate the flow of national discourse, and gain the upper hand in the bar of public opinion.  His presence in congressional hearings investigating his war on drugs and its connection to extrajudicial killings and POGOs is a calculated move to score political points.

In the Senate hearing, Duterte ran amok.  A pliant Senate allowed him so much leeway that he ended up dominating the proceeding.  For nine hours, the Duterte rambled, spewing expletives.  Notwithstanding Senate Rules section 94 which clearly states that, “No Senator, under any circumstances, shall use offensive or improper language against another Senator or against any public institution,” Duterte, a resource person was permitted to curse and disrespect the Senate. Sen. Koko Pimentel, the presiding officer, not only failed to stop Duterte from being himself but he also did not cite him for contempt for his abrasive and abusive behavior.

Except for opposition senator Risa Hontiveros who stood up to Duterte, the Senate virtually handed him the opportunity to monopolize the hearing.  With Bato de la Rose and Robin Padilla acting as his pom-pom girls, Duterte spun his narrative with no push back from the rest of the Senate.

Congress taking note of what transpired in the Senate tried to tame the former president when he appeared in the Quad Committee hearing.  Members of the committee told him to observe proper decorum.  Warning from the House did not prevent Duterte from displaying his bravado and swagger.  Several times, the hearing was suspended as the exchange between Duterte and other resource persons became heated.  At one point, Duterte tried to hit former senator Antonio Trillanes with the microphone and gestured a punch toward his arch nemesis, former senator Leila de Lima.

In his appearance in both Houses of Congress Duterte displayed the same aura of toughness and bluster that elected him president.  He was unapologetic for his actions as president particularly in his war on drugs.

At the Senate he was defiant in his opening statement.  “Do not question my policies because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do, and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country,” he told the senators.  He expressed no remorse for the slaughter of thousands and assumed responsibility.  “I and I alone take full legal responsibility for everything that the police have done pursuant to my order. I will be accountable, I will be the one who will go to jail, spare the police who followed my orders. I pity them, they just did their job.)”

Displaying the same tough image in the House, Duterte even dared the International Criminal Court (ICC) to come and investigate him.  “I am asking the ICC to hurry up, and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow. This issue has been left hanging for many years, baka mamatay ako, hindi na nila ako imbestiga (I might die and they can no longer investigate me),” Duterte challenged.  Like in the Senate, Duterte sparked fireworks in the House hearing.

Causing trouble, igniting controversy, sparking brawl – these actions of Duterte in the Senate and in the House are intended to remind the nation what elevated him to the presidency.  He portrayed himself as a martyr who did what he had to do to save the nation from his perceived danger of illegal drugs and criminality.  If he has to go to jail and suffer the consequences for his actions, so be it.  He does not care as long as he was able to secure the safety of the nation.  This is classic Duterte.

Congress investigation of Duterte’s war on drugs provided him a national platform to remind the nation of the Duterte’s style of leadership.  The elder Duterte’s appearance in both Houses is designed to save and rescue the Duterte brand.

Daughter Sara Duterte is supposed to carry torch and make the brand relevant and alive.  This she failed to do in several bouts with Congress.  When Sara Duterte tries to copy and emulate her father, she is miserably unsuccessful and instead projected a bratty and entitled image.  Her attempt to imitate her father backfired, diminishing and devaluating the Duterte brand.  Sara Duterte is not Rodrigo Duterte and his charisma is non-transferable.  She is a poor, defective, second-rate copycat.

To salvage the Duterte brand, the elder Duterte has to come out once again and remind the public of the family’s leadership style that endeared him to his followers.  Rallying the troops and consolidating the Duterte base are the reasons the former president has to be in public limelight again and rescue the Duterte brand from oblivion and irrelevance.  Congress probe is a golden opportunity too precious to pass up.

Has Rodrigo Duterte succeeded in preserving the Duterte brand?  Only future political developments can tell.  Return to power of Donald Trump is a strong reminder to House Marcos that it must be careful in its current hounding of House Duterte.  A miscalculation can be fatal to the future of the Marcoses.