Democracy Under Strain in the Philippines: The Populist Politics and Diplomacy of President Rodrigo Duterte

Abstract

Rodrigo Duterte’s electoral victory in the 2016 presidential elections in the Philippines allowed him to implement a violent war on drugs, undermine liberal democratic institutions, and shift the country’s foreign policy direction away from active engagement with the United Nations (UN) and towards rapprochement with China in relation to the South China Sea dispute. The rise of Duterte constitutes both a continuation and a subversion of political elite rule in the Philippines. By weakening the political opposition and the business elite through utilising the law and social media; co-opting many members of Congress and the judiciary; and politicising the bureaucracy and the military, Duterte was able to consolidate his power. His draconian policies drew international condemnation. He responded by formally ending the Philippines’ membership of the International Criminal Court and threatening to withdraw from the UN and those of its agencies that were critical of his government’s human rights violations. In doing so, Duterte unilaterally reversed the Philippines’ long-standing commitments to human rights and the rule of law. By not invoking the ruling of an international tribunal on the South China Sea, Duterte lost important political leverage in promoting an international legal framework for strengthening the protection of the Philippines’ claim to its exclusive economic zone from the assertive campaign by China to establish full control of the South China Sea. Despite Duterte’s appeasement policy, Beijing has been intensifying its intrusions into the Philippines’ and other ASEAN countries’ territorial waters, a trend that threatens the security of the Asia–Pacific region.