In Duterte’s Philippines, resistance is futile
A grilling for one of the few politicians willing to stand up to the Philippine president reflects an uncomfortable truth – that while his methods repulse audiences abroad, they boost his popularity at home
Holding up public support for Duterte, Sackur asked Trillanes if his “constantly negative” comments were “out of tune with ordinary Filipino opinion”. Sackur observed that “in political terms it seems to me you are bashing your head against a wall”. Chuckling, he mocked Trillanes’s involvement in two failed coups against a former president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, saying the first one in 2003 “wasn’t very successful”, while “even more sort of pathetically, you made another attempt to get her out in 2007 and you ended up in prison for the best part of seven years”.
For regular viewers of Sackur’s show, this wasn’t surprising. HARDtalk is fuelled by provocative questions in an attempt to make subjects squirm. But in many cases his guests are in positions of power. Trillanes is far from it, and the interview exposed a sad reality of the Philippines today: the opposition to Duterte is so beleaguered, it comes off as irrelevant.
Mindanao, Manila and Duterte’s options
Everywhere you look, critics have been silenced or shut down. Senator Leila de Lima, another vocal critic of the president, has been jailed for months on charges she says are politically motivated.