Opinion | Philippine ‘People Power’ at 35: a strange metamorphosis under Duterte

Despite his ‘war on drugs’, attacks on media and ‘red-tagging’ of political opponents, Rodrigo Duterte is more closely linked to People Power than often thought

Most Filipinos continue to support Duterte’s claim that he is their true champion even though his promises for ‘real change’ have proved hollow

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Activists burn an effigy during a September 2017 protest in Manila against Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war killings. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:00am, 23 Feb 2021Updated: 11:59am, 23 Feb 2021

On Thursday, the Philippines will mark the 35th anniversary of the largely peaceful insurrection that overthrew dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986. The uprising captivated the global media and garnered international praise, showing that an authoritarian ruler could be overthrown by millions of civilian protesters. Among its most iconic images were nuns holding flowers and kneeling in front of government soldiers.

Even where the origins of the term were forgotten, Philippine “People Power” became a template for pro-democracy uprisings in Asia – in South Korea in 1987, Myanmar in 1988, China in 1989 and Indonesia in 1998 – as well as beyond, with former dissident and Czech president Václav Havel having thanked Filipinos for helping inspire the 1989 Eastern European democratic revolutions.

But within the Philippines itself, the view of People Power has undergone a strange metamorphosis. Corazon C. Aquino, the widow of an assassinated opposition leader who became president after the heavily manipulated snap presidential elections of early February 1986 that sparked the uprising, died in 2009. A huge funeral was held in which she was praised for restoring democracy by toppling the corrupt Marcos regime. Her son, Benigno S. Aquino III, won the 2010 presidential election by proclaiming himself the rightful heir of a political movement to strengthen democracy, eliminate corruption and eradicate poverty.

But when Rodrigo R. Duterte was elected as Benigno Aquino’s successor in mid-2016, he launched a bloody “war on drugs” that killed thousands and involved “systematic extrajudicial killings with near impunity” for police, according to a recent United Nations report. He had an opposition senator jailed on dubious drug charges (but more plausibly for criticising his drug war), targeted local officials accused of having drug links (with several killed in gangland-style hits), and attacked the independent media (with noted local journalist Maria Ressa facing multiple libel suits).

Duterte even paid tribute to Marcos – granting his family’s wish for a “hero’s burial” denied by his predecessors after the dictator’s death in 1989.

Yet Duterte is more closely linked to Philippine People Power than is commonly realised. Duterte’s mother, Soledad, was a strong supporter of Cory Aquino. After becoming president, Cory appointed Rodrigo deputy mayor of the southern city of Davao, and he became mayor just two years later. When Duterte ran for president in 2016, he was the candidate of a party founded to oppose the Marcos dictatorship. Even the current targeting of leftist activists through “red-tagging” of supposed communist sympathisers fits a pattern of human rights abuses that occurred during previous presidencies (including the administrations of Cory and Benigno Aquino) that were dependent on the armed forces to shore up political power.

Former Philippines President Corazon Aquino, centre, in December 2000. Photo: Reuters