Mass crowd behavior bordering on rage and siege mentalities at group levels among supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte was triggered by a significant societal event — that of their idol being arrested by Interpol on strength of an arrest warrant to face charges of crimes against humanity levelled against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
This Duterte crowd mentality hinging on rage demanded the former Philippine President be freed outright from ICC incarceration irrespective of the charges against him. The supporters, adding with demonic frenzy that his arrest was illegal, him being kidnapped and whisked to The Hague, in Netherlands; they clamored that Duterte must be returned to the Philippines.
Next came their siege mentality – a paranoid attitude that Duterte is being oppressed and so are they — went to overdrive and they swamped Facebook with false social pages of implausible accounts of their political idol curtailed of his human and legal rights.
They sparked a Philippine disinformation frenzy, a wave of online falsehoods targeting the Philippine government, President Bongbong Marcos, Philippine officials and judges of the ICC in a bid to gain worldwide sympathy; on the whole, however, their misinformation campaign backfired.
Analysts argue the disinformation is failing to help Duterte and might drastically affect judicial decisions on his interim release.
For their fake social information, these ranged from the outlandish to malicious. One post purported to show Russian President Vladimir Putin refusing peace talks with Ukraine unless Duterte is released from ICC custody.
Another post claimed the Philippine Supreme Court accepted a petition with 16 million signatures demanding resignation of President Marcos and that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the petition.
In response, the Supreme Court condemned the falsehood about the court, of Duterte being granted a temporary restraining order as “acts of disinformation” and further added these are referred for “appropriate action.”
Even ICC judges weren’t spared. Duterte diehards criticized ICC Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc while heaping unmitigated admiration for the person accused of slaying 30,000 defenseless Filipinos through Extra Judicial Killing (EJK).
Duterte supporters’ crowd behavior continues streaming through Facebook, and the majority of Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) residents keep neutral silence regarding the issue.
However, there are also many CAR residents who, after reading so much of the delusions of Duterte supporters, can’t help but shrug their heads in dismay at what they read on social media.
One highlander, Abel Ayaan, who told Daily Laborer to cite his name, explained it seems most of the supporters of Duterte no longer possess the capacity to make an informed analysis of what is right or wrong.
Ayaan explained he believed Duterte supporters are capable of logic and reasoning on why Duterte was served an arrest warrant to serve jail time until the ICC court sets him free, but they fall short of that ideal in predictable ways.
One among the predictable ways whereby Duterte supporters fall short of the ideal is that despite knowing Duterte is facing a serious criminal charge, they continue to destruct in self-delusion by idolizing their political leader and “considering as enemies all by whom their beliefs are not accepted.”
Just like we, who hold each other accountable in many social spheres, accountability is a virtue essential in democratic governments and provides the legitimacy necessary for good governance. Accountability serves not only to ensure control over representatives and rule-makers in general but also to prevent abuses of power and enhance performance.
Another political observer, Jaime Jabrigal, a lowlander but residing in CAR explained that supporters of Duterte are intelligent, capable, rational and full of the same glorious reason of sanity.
But when it comes to their political leader, “They hold Duterte on a metaphorical pedestal and refuse to recognize the flaws that sent Duterte facing the ICC court.”
That means Duterte must be held accountable for the serious charge and will be set free if the charges are erroneous.
Still, another, Samuel Gulidan, a highlander and unafraid of having his name identified, thinks that Duterte supporters hold this erroneous belief of Duterte being the best president of the country and they bristle about any negative media remarks about their idol.
Yet, another, a lady this time, Lorena Las-kiban, A CAR resident who isn’t afraid of her name being printed, said she could not shake this feeling of “mental disturbance descending on Duterte diehards, making them behave in strange ways like suspicion, hostility, sanctimoniousness and very little common sense.”
Merrily, Las-kiban continued, saying, “It’s not lack of pinikpikan, etag, money, or voices of many politicians campaigning this season, but the diehards themselves who are the greatest danger to themselves, for the simple reason that there is no adequate protection against dissonant voice epidemic affecting them.”
Unfortunately, no amount of heaving, huffing, puffing, copying and pasting legal jargon an excuses, drama and antics, insults and rants won’t transfigure the fact of Duterte face the charges without loyalists to cheer his bravado of calling ICC as “useless.”
ICC prosecutors are concentrated on at least 43 murders where evidences and testimonies are strongest that can wrap up conviction of Duterte.
On the other hand, Philippine human rights defenders tally around 30,000 Extra-Judicial Killings. That being stated, on the part of ICC, that will not matte; it doesn’t have to prove 30,000 murders,
What matters most to ICC for the sake of the victims of the EJK is that it shall prove Duterte was the Hydra serpentine head in the systematic murders of the civilians.
Too often Duterte publicly claimed in the killing of these people “I did it for my country; I, alone, take full, legal responsibility.” An extra-judicial confession. At the ICC, he now has the chance to prove to the Philippine populace that his murderous rampage merits him being innocent of any wrongdoing.
How ICC has gotten involved in this EJK was when former senator Antonio Trillanes and the Magdalo group filed in 2017 a case at ICC, seeking justice for victims of EJK. That time, families of EJK couldn’t get fair and impartial justice from the Philippine judicial system for it was next to impossible to hold Duterte accountable by crime investigators.
On the flipside of the coin, lawyers and supporters of the past President who regularly posted delusions of grandeur on Facebook by stating, “Duterte is the best president,” now find themselves begging for the Philippine government to bring home the former President, because, as they claim, “Duterte is old, weak and sickly; it is un-Filipino to allow foreigners to judge him; it is a political agenda of President Bongbong Marcos; they love him, and; he did ( the EJK) it for his country.”
But to ICC, such reasons offered by Duterte diehards are irrelevant to the one most important query ICC wants proven. And that is, “Is Duterte the mastermind in EJK?
As to the former President’s age? That, too, is immaterial. About his health? ICC has a competent medical physician making sure Duterte is physically and mentally fit to stand trial.
It is un-Filipino to allow foreign courts to render verdict to Filipinos? ICC stepped only into the picture because the Philippine justice system failed expectation in conduct of its work.
Love of country? Ironic for those defending Duterte because when he was in power, he dismantled the fight for justice and democracy and saturated government offices with allies who prioritized serving him over the nation.
Duterte betrayed Philippine sovereignty? That is a lot of bull. Instead of defending the West Philippine Sea from encroachment, he bowed to China, making Filipino fishermen to suffer Chinese brutality.
Corruption boiled under Duterte’s reign. It was plagued by multi-billion peso scandals – from Pharmally’s overpriced medical supplies to questionable infra projects.
We love him? To those adoring the former President, other Filipinos have this question for them: “How can you love a man who stood against the Filipino masses by encouraging their killings?”
“His war on drugs wasn’t about drugs. It was a war against the poor, of defenseless men, women, youth and children, dragged from their homes and gunned down in alleyways, sidewalks or in front of their relatives while other neighbors cowered in fear behind the thin walls of their shanties,” these un-believing Filipinos tell the Duterte diehards.
When people begin to idolize a politician, they lose power, becoming instead blind followers instead of being citizens. Blinded by political beliefs and blind devotion, they fail to question or demand and they mistake the politician’s survival as their own and his failures as something to be excused rather than censured.
But frankly, politics was never meant to be about “glorifying a politician,” who is neither a liberator or hero. He/she is a custodian of Filipino people’s trust. When that trust is shattered, it’s not our obligation to defend him. But it is our duty to demand for the better.
No politician should be above scrutiny. No government, no matter how powerful, should be free from accountability.
Verily, one yardstick of equality isn’t how leaders are protected by the electorate but how people protect each other from the excesses or abuse of those in power.
Because, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, politicians are instances of powerful persons and the electorate, being witnesses to the abstract level of coercive power on human personality must always stand their ground.
And in doing so, only then can we merrily infer to our politicians that “The Office makes the man/woman,” and not the other way around.
