Reversal of fortune/Peripeteia

The diminishing political influence of the Duterte camp/party has taken a steeper dive in the last few months. The falling out between the Marcos and Duterte political groups after their coalition of convenience in the last 2022 elections, started to fray in early 2024 due to the lack of common ideology and platform, but more so because of opposing political ambitions. It has reached main and social media open warfare with accusations of BBM’s drug addiction, threats of people power and Davao secession, and eventually the resignation of VP Duterte as DEC secretary and her exit from the Cabinet. The Marcos group, without a frontal confrontation has been eroding the government and political influence of the Dutertes by allowing and feeding the accusations/violations/abuses of the Duterte camp and their allies, during their administration and in their current positions.

Peripeteia, is a Greek word used in literature which means turning point. It is a powerful element in Greek plays referring to an unexpected turn of events in the story. It is the pivotal point in the drama, in which the plot moves steadily to its denouement. An unexpected reversal of fortune that makes the story a compelling tragedy. According to dramatists, the change of fortune should be an event that occurs contrary to the audience expectations, surprising but nonetheless a necessary outcome of the preceding actions. Literary dramas are drawn from actual real-life situations, and the ancient Greeks use them as cautionary tales for their politicians and rulers. Thousands of years later, we are still in the same situation. Real life political dramas, due to the flawed characters of most politicians are tragedies with “reversal of fortunes”.

Recent events/happenings in the Philippine politics and society are real-life peripeteia. Senators Bato and Bong Go are accused of promoting the deadly drug war under the Duterte administration by ordering and providing reward money to the policemen who shot a suspect dead. Duterte and Bato are even accused of ordering the killing of drug suspects in prison, and the son and son-in-law of Duterte are also accused of being part of the drug smuggling through Customs. Top officials of Duterte, like Roque, are being implicated in the illegal and criminal activities of the Chinese POGOs and other corrupt activities. The Bong Go family corporations are also charged with corruption on the award of multi-billion projects during the Duterte regime. Then Vice President Sara Duterte Carpio is under investigation on the use of intelligence funds which were disallowed by the Commission on Audit, while being grilled by Congress on the budget of her office.

Add to these the multiple warrants of arrest against Quiboloy, the avowed financial/political supporter of Duterte and the raid on his 30-hectare complex, even if Duterte is the designated administrator, and then the ongoing threat of the ICC to arrest Duterte for the crimes against humanity during the killings his drug war from 2016 to 2022. All of these are happening or are allowed to happen with the Marcos camp not lifting a finger to stop them and who seem to be nudging them along. This is surely/clearly a reversal of fortune for the Duterte faction.

Some people believe peripeteia is part of divine justice or karma or just the natural law of nature. A strong action is always countered by an equally strong reaction/counteraction. The laws of physics would produce the same effect in a vacuum. So, it could also be the same in the social sciences and human behavior. Or as the adages say, “you reap what you sow”, “the higher you go, the harder the fall”, or “we get what we deserve”.

Most political stories are tragedies, and the Greeks have known about this long ago.