What is the wisdom of President Rodrigo Duterte about? It has something to do with his leadership. The former president’s leadership style is atypical. This is necessary in the politics of nation states. Liberals see the institution as everything. But that is not the case when it comes to communal politics. Duterte’s emergence was a result of the decades-old domination and control by a Manila-centric type of governance that has roots in the country’s colonial past. Duterte is the exemplification of the revolution from the South. For the longest time, Mindanao has been ignored and its people were neglected. Such served as the background of a leadership that is not of the textbook type.
Liberal politics is rooted in reason but the politics of nation states is about communal attachments and affiliation. In this way, it matters to understand the meaning of politics on the basis of culture, history and tradition. Precisely, the mistake comes from the myopic liberal position that autonomy is the highest virtue. The values of the community matter more in our country. The people develop their sense of solidarity based on their sense of belongingness. This is why politics is regionalistic. We are like bees in a hive. The Bisaya vote put Duterte into power. In the context of Philippine society, a true leader sympathizes with the people and knows them by heart. It is not about cosmetics and speeches. The critics of VP Sara Duterte knows it; hence, their fear is understandable.
Radical politics points to the different approach in which liberalism can be anchored. The main contention is simple. John Rawls, according to Chantal Mouffe, connects politics to morality. For Mouffe, politics has nothing to do with right and wrong. Rather, it concerns power relations and how, in the best possible way, such type of a relationship can be altered in order to achieve the ends of justice. The main element in getting to this point is the distinction between “politics” and the “political,” which can be traced to the thinker Carl Schmitt. Rawls begins his starting point by means of a method that views of society on the basis of an agreement as to how to choose the principles of justice. This ahistorical positioning simply puts aside the reality of structural injustices that need to be corrected if people are to establish a just socio-political order.
What Duterte has accomplished for Davao City is a result of his strong and apparent political will. People value and understand the meaning of the common good. Above all, it is public interest that matters. But one cannot protect the public if a leader is weak. For this reason, it is important to understand the nature and context of Philippine society. Without such wisdom, cabals can easily take advantage of the deficiencies in the system. A leader who only follows the flow will be ineffective because there are hard decisions to consider. The government should be able to adapt to the challenges of the times. When a leader does that, it also matters that he owns to his failings. President Duterte pronounced that every mistake by his administration was his and his alone.
For instance, it is clear that Duterte has achieved considerable accomplishments in his fight against some of the country’s oligarchs. We can mention some cases, including the Philippine Airlines, Mighty Tobacco, Maynilad and Manila Water, among others. No other politician or Philippine president for that matter faced such types of adversaries. The EDSA Revolution has not lived up to its promise of changing the lives of the people because its leaders only wanted to take over the reign of power. It is not only about lost opportunities and chances, but the fact that EDSA simply was the restoration of the Old Order.
President Duterte is different. He faced formidable obstacles in the pursuit of peace in the South. But he knew what Muslim Filipinos wanted and he gave it to them – the power to truly govern themselves. Wisdom is not just about knowing the distinction between fruits and vegetables. The wise man must have courage as well. In fact, peace in the Bangsamoro is President Duterte’s biggest legacy.
