The Rise of a Dictator or How the Philippines got their Dictatorship Back

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**Dreadwinter**

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/31/philippine-president-elect-says-corrupt-journalists-will-be-killed

Spoiler:

The Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte said corrupt journalists were legitimate targets of assassination, as he amped up his controversial anti-crime crusade with offers of rewards for killing drug traffickers.

Duterte won this month’s elections by a landslide largely due to an explosive law-and-order platform in which he pledged to end crime within six months by killing tens of thousands of suspected criminals.

The foul-mouthed politician has launched a series of post-election tirades against criminals and repeated his vows to kill them – particularly drug traffickers, rapists and murderers. In a press conference called on Tuesday to announce the new cabinet, in his southern hometown of Davao, Duterte said journalists who took bribes or engaged in other corrupt activities also deserved to die.

“Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch,” Duterte said when asked how he would address the problem of media killings in the Philippines, after a reporter was shot dead in Manila last week.

The Philippines is one of the most dangerous nations in the world for journalists, with 174 murdered since a chaotic and corruption-plagued democracy replaced the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos three decades ago. “Most of those killed, to be frank, have done something. You won’t be killed if you don’t do anything wrong,” Duterte said, adding that many journalists in the Philippines were corrupt.

Duterte also said freedom of expression provisions in the constitution did not necessarily protect a person from violent repercussions for defamation. “That can’t be just freedom of speech. The constitution can no longer help you if you disrespect a person,” he said.

Duterte raised the case of Jun Pala, a journalist and politician who was murdered in Davao in 2003. Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead Pala, who was a vocal critic of Duterte. His murder has never been solved. “If you are an upright journalist, nothing will happen to you,” said Duterte, who has ruled Davao as mayor for most of the past two decades and is accused of links to vigilante death squads.

“The example here is Pala. I do not want to diminish his memory but he was a rotten son of a bitch. He deserved it.”

One of the world’s deadliest attacks against journalists took place in the Philippines in 2009, when 32 journalists were among 58 people killed by a warlord clan intent on stopping a rival’s election challenge. More than 100 people are on trial for the massacre, including many members of the Ampatuan family accused of orchestrating it.

Duterte has named Salvador Panelo, the former defence lawyer for the Ampatuans, as his presidential spokesman, a nomination criticised by the victims’ families and journalists’ organisations. Duterte, who will assume office on 30 June, also said he would offer bounties to law enforcement officers who killed drug traffickers. He said 3m pesos (£14,450) would be paid to law enforcers for killing drug lords, with lesser amounts for lower-ranking people in drug syndicates.

Outlining some of his other plans for his war on crime, Duterte said he would give police special forces shoot-to-kill orders and send them into the main jail in Manila where prisoners run drug trafficking operations.

He also said he would enlist junior soldiers to kill corrupt top-ranking police officers who were involved in the drug trade. “I will call the private from the army and say: ’Shoot him’,” Duterte said. He urged police not to wait until he assumed the presidency, and start killing criminals immediately. “Now, now,” he urged them.

Police earlier confirmed killing 15 people in a series of drug raids across the country over the past week, which Amnesty International described as a sharp and sudden escalation in the long-standing problem of questionable deaths by Filipino security forces.

Well, it looks like the Philippines just elected the worlds next dictator. I knew things had been bad in the region, but I was unaware of exactly how bad it was. Especially for journalists in the area.

**LordofHats**

Is it weird that my very first thought was "this guy sounds a lot like Donald Trump except with more violence and less childish name calling?"

**CthuluIsSpy**

Funny, when I read the first few lines I was thinking "Huh, so this is what happens if Frank Castle were elected president"

**Matt.Kingsley**

@LordofHats: No, not really.

John Oliver actually did a segment on this guy calling him the 'Trump of the Philippines'.

**Goliath**

LordofHats wrote:
Is it weird that my very first thought was "this guy sounds a lot like Donald Trump except with more violence and less childish name calling?"

"I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but he was a rotten son of a bitch"

vs

"I'm not saying that he was murdered, but there are a lot of people saying that that aide was murdered"

Yup. I'm also seeing the similarities in speech. It's kinda worrying.

**jhe90**

Ok, so Philippines, take them off the vaction list me things.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

I suppose any journalist who criticizes him is definitely corrupt, right?

**Jihadin**

You don't want to be dealing with drugs there. Don't be corrupt. This guy has a lot of faults but he is dead serious.
He already put notice to a lot of officials who are corrupt that they be replaced
The law enforcement officers who are subpar are being relocated to the area where rebels operate.
....
....
This guy is cleaning house.

**Rosebuddy**

Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
I suppose any journalist who criticizes him is definitely corrupt, right?

Plus of course all the poor Chinese people who were totally trafficking drugs.

Yeah, this guy is gonna kill a lot of people.

**notprop**

This guy's no Trump, until he builds a wall like Trump (will).

I suspect he will use the dead bodies of criminals and corrupt journalists for said wall rather than Mexican money.

Either way as a representative of the international construction industry I applaud all wall building.

**Jihadin**

Read an article a few weeks back on how transparent this election was. Was way more transparent then ours. This guy won fairly. The city he was Mayor of is no joke. Don't get caught dealing with drugs in his domain

**oldravenman3025**

Jihadin wrote:
You don't want to be dealing with drugs there. Don't be corrupt. This guy has a lot of faults but he is dead serious.
He already put notice to a lot of officials who are corrupt that they be replaced
The law enforcement officers who are subpar are being relocated to the area where rebels operate.
....
....
This guy is cleaning house.

This.

He's not a "dictator" (unless you are one of the "muh feelz" persuasion). The people elected him because they're fed up. And he's keeping his campaign promises to deal with sources of his country's problems directly and harshly And he doesn't wrap his language in claptrap, flowery political double-speak.

And for those who are hysterical over Donald Hairpiece, the only similarity is that both rode/are riding a populist wave, and have the support of those who are fed up of their respective political classes and their inherent corruption. Donald Trump isn't dictator material. He's a bored celebrity billionaire (that ran on a whim) that's doing better than expected, says what a lot of normal people are thinking, and has the hatred of the political establishment on both sides of the aisle because of his "outsider" status.

I don't like Trump personally. I'm only planning to give him my vote because I know Shillery's past history in politics and business, and I'm tired of the political establishment in this country. Trump might screw things up (odds are good), but he's fresh blood on the political stage. It's good to rock the boat every now and then to send a clear message. And it's not like Presidents from the political establishment haven't screwed the pooch, more often than not, since the end of World War II. Even the patron saints of both the right and left, such as Reagan, Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton have made serious errors in their administrations.

So, I ignore the propaganda against Mr. Hairpiece. I'm more than willing to give him a chance. If he screws up his term in office, he won't make two terms. Simple as that.

**Frazzled**

Live that dream. When Trump goes down you're going to lose the House and may effectively lose the Senate too. Local officers will get slaughtered.

**Do_I_Not_Like_That**

On a positive note, anybody looking to make another Vietnam War film will be able to get as many helicopters as they want, cheap labour, and prime shooting locations

**Spinner**

Frazzled wrote:
Live that dream. When Trump goes down you're going to lose the House and may effectively lose the Senate too. Local officers will get slaughtered.

Not literally, though. Unlike with Mr. "Cleaning House" and his death squads up there.

Seriously, people. Death squads. Attacking journalists. How does that not raise five billion red flags for anyone on the planet? It's easy enough to say "oh, he was corrupt" after it's all said and done. The man is urging assassinations and talking about sending the army into prisons to execute convicts, how are people in this thread defending him? That's insane, this is two or three steps and a few lunatics in costumes away from being the plot of Arkham City.

Frakking death squads.

**feeder**

Spinner wrote:
Frazzled wrote:
Live that dream. When Trump goes down you're going to lose the House and may effectively lose the Senate too. Local officers will get slaughtered.

Not literally, though. Unlike with Mr. "Cleaning House" and his death squads up there.

Seriously, people. Death squads. Attacking journalists. How does that not raise five billion red flags for anyone on the planet? It's easy enough to say "oh, he was corrupt" after it's all said and done. The man is urging assassinations and talking about sending the army into prisons to execute convicts, how are people in this thread defending him? That's insane, this is two or three steps and a few lunatics in costumes away from being the plot of Arkham City.

Frakking death squads.

Because he's

TOUGH ON CRIME

When you ability to think critically has been beaten out of you by your peer group, this kind of rhetoric sticks.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

I have to agree with Spinner. This is fething insane. Half a century ago, we went to War with despots like this. And I hate to Godwin the thread, but Hitler was a populist leader with the support of his people too.

What happens if the Philippines comes into conflict with a neighbouring country and this guy starts throwing his weight around?

**Jihadin**

This guy not cranking up death camps. This guy agenda has been known a long time. I was tracking this guy a year ago when he was mayor of Davao when he set loose the LEO of his city on the drug dealers. Welcome to today's version of the route China took to remove their drug users and drug dealers. He is also shaking house with the military. Quite a few Generals are getting canned due to corruption allegations

Edit

Rodrigo Duterte has warned journalists in the Philippines that they are legitimate targets for assassination if they do wrong, in the President-elect’s latest controversial comments ahead of being sworn into office later this month.

Duterte was asked during a press conference Tuesday how he would address the country’s high murder rate for journalists, reports Agence France-Presse. “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch,” he replied.

The Philippines is considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists and, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 75 reporters have been murdered in the country since 1992, many while investigating official corruption.

The new leader’s apparent explanation is that many of the country’s reporters are themselves corrupt. “Most of those killed, to be frank, have done something. You won’t be killed if you don’t do anything wrong,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Davao City mayor, who won a May 9 election on vowing to crack down on crime across the Philippines, has also given an indication that he intends to ensure the Southeast Asian nation is not over-reliant on its long-term ally the U.S.

Duterte said the country under his watch would be “charting a course of our own” regarding the South China Sea, Reuters reports. The Philippines is one of several countries in the region locked in protracted territorial disputes with China.

“It will not be dependent on America,” Duterte said of his approach to the maritime row. “And it will be a line that is not intended to please anybody but the Filipino interest.”

I like this guy. Straight...to the point...has his head on a swivel.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Jihadin wrote:
This guy not cranking up death camps. This guy agenda has been known a long time. I was tracking this guy a year ago when he was mayor of Davao when he set loose the LEO of his city on the drug dealers. Welcome to today's version of the route China took to remove their drug users and drug dealers. He is also shaking house with the military. Quite a few Generals are getting canned due to corruption allegations

Right, and thats something I'm sure we can all get behind. But extra-judicial assassinations and summary executions?

Is there no rule of Law in the Philippines? Is their government above the law?

**Spinner**

I didn't say death camps, I said death squads. And assassinations. And placing bounties. And waving his hand at the corpses and saying "Oh, they were corrupt. If you don't do anything wrong, nothing bad will happen to you."

These are all terrible signs.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Spinner wrote:
I didn't say death camps, I said death squads. And assassinations. And placing bounties. And waving his hand at the corpses and saying "Oh, they were corrupt. If you don't do anything wrong, nothing bad will happen to you."

These are all terrible signs.

Yes. Apparently theres no Presumption of innocence in the Philippines, and even more scarily, westerners in this thread appear to be applauding.

**Jihadin**

I know a lot of Ex Pats in the Philippines are sitting back watching the fun and supporting this guy.

**kronk**

And if you have anything bad to say about the government, then you're a bad journalist and will end up shot or worse.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Jihadin wrote:
I know a lot of Ex Pats in the Philippines are sitting back watching the fun and supporting this guy.

Which is all fun and games until one of them gets caught with a spliff or a few kilograms of cocaine in an airport. Its easy to cheer this on when its happening to somebody else.

**Jihadin**

LOL this guy hasn't taking office yet. Let's see what happens till then

**MrDwhitey**

Anyone supporting the extrajudicial execution of alleged wrong doers is a pretty disgusting person.

Believe it or not, alleged isn't always written with quotation marks, a lot of the time the alleged is actually innocent.

**Jihadin**

That's one thing I haven't heard about this guy. Journalist killing. I know when the story broke on his Mistress he was like "Your point?" Journalist is still alive I believe.
Still though they're predicting mass exodus of drug dealers soon.

**Compel**

My barometer is more tracking towards Palpatine than any real world rulers in the past hundred years or so.

**Monkey Tamer**

Let's play devil's advocate. What if he doesn't abuse his power and actually only goes after bad people? I've known enough politicians to doubt this, but a few dead bad guys sends a strong message. Maybe if we had a few politicians strung up over here things would be better. Violence or threat of violence is the ultimate motivator.

**Shadow Captain Edithae**

Monkey Tamer wrote:
Let's play devil's advocate. What if he doesn't abuse his power and actually only goes after bad people? I've known enough politicians to doubt this, but a few dead bad guys sends a strong message. Maybe if we had a few politicians strung up over here things would be better. Violence or threat of violence is the ultimate motivator.

Problem is, if they don't get a fair trial then we only have the Government's word that they were "bad guys".

If they're all given fair trials, preferably with juries, then I don't particularly care if they're executed, so long as the crime they committed warrants the death penalty (Drug Lords, murderers etc).