Duterte 2.0

Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte spent almost 10 hours seated before the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee hearing on the “Philippine war” on illegal drugs, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.

The title alone of the subcommittee is a dead giveaway – it should have been illegal drugs war. “Philippine war” makes the killings sound state sponsored, a national policy, a strategy. And a hugely successful one, if you ask Dear Digong.

Unlike the House quad version –dangerous drugs, public order and safety, human rights, public accounts – hearing on extrajudicial killings, you sense the crime right away.

Accordingly, in his 950-word opening statement, delivered in Taglish, spiced with anecdotes (like his having to make both ends meet, being newly wed, teaching at the police academy), Duterte, 73, proceeded to redeem himself, before the panel, before the people, before the court of public opinion. The verdict: not guilty.

Duterte’s, live on national tv, was a virtuoso solo performance. It was so mesmerizing Digong, supposedly a spent force (he hinted he could barely afford the plane fare from Davao to Manila and back when the guy is easily worth P10 billion), even got an exuberant applause from the gallery. Even after cursing no less than 25 times (p****ng **a).

This is a guy who is supposed to be the most evil president we ever had. He killed up to 30,000, claim human rights groups. He allowed corrupt cronies to plunder (remember Pharmally of COVID era?). He allowed Chinese citizens to penetrate the innards of the bureaucracy (remember Alice Guo?). He allowed POGOs which became sprawling licensed crime syndicates. He made the Philippines a province of China, which treats the entire South China Sea as its backyard swimming pool and garrison.

Finally, he gave us – please rise, drumroll – Sara Duterte, the Vice President, the Queen of Deranged and Dangerous Drama. Add Congressman Pulong Duterte, the famous first son who got – drum roll, please – a whopping P51 billion in flood control pork in three years, a historic record, for a congressional district of 145,000 voters or an average ayuda of P371,700 per voter (all of them now upper middle class).

Duterte asked a very important question: why until now are there no cases against me, filed by the Department of Justice? “Was he cleared?” Senate President Protempore Jinggoy Estrada asked witness, former DOJ secretary Leila de Lima. Her lame reply: “The investigation was conducted. But the problem was that those who were in the know, iyong kaunti ho na mga self-confessed DDS members at that time, they’re not willing to testify.”

At the Senate hall, Digong Duterte was a Denial King. Some statements:

• “My mandate as president of the Republic was to protect the country and the Filipino people. 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.”

• “The war on illegal drugs is not about killing people. It is about protecting the innocent and the defenseless.”

• “I have always viewed people addicted to illegal drugs as victims and patients requiring medical help and not as criminals. That is why when the ‘War on Drugs’ slogan came into being, coined first as a message to the people of Davao City to stay away from illegal drugs but, at the same time, I had a drug rehabilitation facility constructed in Davao City, at city government expense, manned by Davao City government doctors, psychiatrists, nurses and health workers, among others, to look after the complete rehabilitation of those addicted to illegal drugs.”

• “I believe then and I still believe now that rehabilitation and not fear of death or incarceration to be the key to the return of the addicted individuals back to the mainstream of a just and forgiving society.”

• He told the police when confronting criminals, “Repel the aggression only in self-defense. Do not make orphans of your children and widows of your wives.” I do not want that in my conscience as mayor and president. Hindi ko…mabigat iyan sa konsensiya ko.”

Duterte denied making a 5 a.m. call to police Col. Royina Garma in May 2016 after his election as president, to ask her for recommendation for a police officer, a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo, to execute his war on drugs. “I hate to say this, but nagsisinungaling iyong gagang iyon,” he sneered. He also denied relations with her. “Kung wala na siguro akong ibang makita, siya,” he smiled.

Before the quad comm, Garma related how Duterte created a reward system for police officers who killed drug lords and drug addicts, the amounts ranging fromP10,000 to P1 million.

Duterte denied making the payments to killer cops: “Bakit ako magbayad sa kanila? Trabaho man nila yan. Kung may pera, ibulsa ko na lang. If there is a fund for that ... then give it to them. Trabaho nila iyan eh. The best that I could do minsan is pupunta ako. Niyaya ko iyan sila na magkain.”

In his opening statement, Duterte made a serious accusation. “Drug-related crimes are on the rise again. Every day, you can read about children being raped, people getting killed and robbed. And just recently, a drug den was raided within the Malacan?ang complex. This clearly manifests that the purveyors of this menace are back in business.”

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin denied Duterte’s allegation. Crime is on the decline. And President Marcos Jr. has curbed illegal drugs without resorting to genocide.

Asked if he were to return to power (he is running for Davao mayorship), if he would do again what he did in fighting illegal drugs, Duterte snapped back: “Kung pabalikin ako, sir, gagawin uli iyan, doblado.” (Applause.)

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]