Philippine Politics

~40% of them did. And Turkey had no history of liberal democracy, the military ran rampant for decades before the Islamists drug their heels in.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

If there was news of a coup, the big media agency players in Manila would have heard of it. Right now, it's just whispers in the wind.

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Picking up on the cyberbullying against the Reuters journalists, Rappler had an analysis of it in reltaion to the fake FB pages made by Duterte supporters.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/148007-propaganda-war-weaponizing-internet

Said article has a snapshot of the FB page where the Reuters jounalists were exposed. Sad to say, one my high school classmates had it shared. He's now a full-blown conspiracy theorist who's married. Don't know about his wife though.

You know, all this s*** Duterte's been spouting and doing recently reminded me of a rather fitting song from Incubus:

(Sadly, the official music video isn't available for viewing here, otherwise I would have posted that... F***.)

If Duterte getting elected also happened in the MCU, I'd pretty much assume the Chinese branch of HYDRA would be responsible for that...

Back to reality-land (though still thinking up of possible "what if?" scenarios), how will China move if a coup/people power revolution does occur, Duterte is overthrown/goes into exile, and the new leader seeks to re-establish ties to the Western world that were frayed by Duterte's statements? Will they do something similar to what Russia did to Ukraine in the wake of the Euromaidan protests?

"Learn as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow."

China is extremely averse to getting directly involved in the internal politics of a country (Sudan for example is a headache for them). They prefer charm offensives, propaganda and money to any form covert military action. No, I think they'll just continue what they've done so far, stay in the grey zone.

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele

Just like the recent report of Chinese campaign money on Australian politics.

Didn't Duterte take some campaign money from a Chinese businessman?

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot

So I've heard. I would love to know who that anonymous Chinese businessman was...or at least, how much he paid for Duterte's election campaign.

I wouldn't be surprised if some Wumaodang members also helped set up Duterte's attack trolls social media campaign (which is still somewhat active to this day).

edited 5th Oct '16 2:55:47 AM by IncognitoNinja

"Learn as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow."

Trolls-for-hire, maybe.

Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.

@Ninja. That depends. If it happened now or in the near future they'd denounce it as illegitimate, embargo the country, call for Duerte's reinstatement, call it an act of western imperialism and a "color revolution", and work to sabotage it from within. If they already had troops in the country they'd probably send them into the streets to help suppress the uprising. China hates being disappointed. If Duerte falls before they do that they will probably try forcing the new government to stay in their orbit and allow China to keep the bases. Failing that they'd try to semi annex the area around their base as a "security zone.", like the British had in Suez or the US in Panama.

Duerte's ambassador to the UN defends the Nazi's How are the Philipino posters here not terrified.

And Hitler loving is not an uncommon stance in the developing world Great in a few years we'll have to revise our world history textbooks to "tell the Nazi's point of view", so as to "globalize", and "diversify", our education.

edited 5th Oct '16 3:23:22 PM by JackOLantern1337

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.

Yeah, how long until he buys thousands of SS uniforms and tries todefend himself with "but they're just so cool looking, I had to dress some of my men in this uniform."

Well, I mean, they were designed by Hugo Boss.

@Jack: That sounds like something that the folks at CrushTheStreet would think up. (Off-topic, what else is known about that group? Besides being some newsletter service, they don't say much about themselves besides being the "source for unconventional news and financial trends")

Also...oh, you're referring to those artificial islands. Pretty sure the Chinese don't have bases within the PH mainland (unless you count those methamphetamine laboratories they set up).

FP.com article? I can't help but wonder if you deliberately picked that article for maximum annoyance... God, I hate it when their hover ad/paywall crap blocks what I want to read... Skip! (*ding* +100 sins)

Anyway, here's writer/blogger Jessica Zafra's Take That! regarding Ambassador Teddy Locsin's tweets comparing the drug war to Nazi Germany's "Final Solution":

http://www.jessicarulestheuniverse.com/2016/10/01/obituary-for-the-formerly-brilliant/

edited 5th Oct '16 9:27:20 PM by IncognitoNinja

"Learn as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow."

Just 11 percent of Philippino's dissatisfied with Duerte On Thursday, Social Weather Survey (SWS), a polling firm, released public opinion data on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s broad support in the country. Per the survey, which was conducted between September 24 and 27, 2016, 76 percent of Filipinos are “satisfied” with Duterte’s performance as president, while 11 percent as “dissatisfied,” and another 13 percent remain undecided. That data show that Duterte maintains a net satisfaction rate of 64 percent, which suggests considerable continuing support.

Public opinion data released by Pulse Asia, another a survey firm, in July, weeks after Duterte’s June 30 inauguration, showed that 91 percent of Filipinos approved of Duterte. September’s data, while not demonstrating the same degree of overwhelming support for Duterte, still underlines that a majority of Filipinos are satisfied with the president. Moreover, historical data released by Social Weather Survey going back to Corazon Aquino’s administration beginning in 1986, shows that nearly all Filipino presidents have started their administrations with a net satisfaction rating in the 50 to 70 point range. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration is a notable exception to this trend.

Public support for Duterte has drawn concern outside the country, particularly given the Philippine president’s extreme comments on his ongoing drug war, which has resulted in the deaths of over 3,000, and offensive remarks against foreign leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama. Moreover, Duterte has tolerated a proliferation of extra-judicial killings across the country as president, exporting what had been a trademark of his time as the mayor of Davao City in the southern Philippines to the national stage.

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month. SWS’ data show that support for Duterte is geographically widespread in the Philippines and is not determined by urban-rural divides. In Mindanao, support for Duterte is unsurprisingly overwhelmingly high, with a net approval of 85 percent (only 4 percent in Mindanao are “dissatisfied” with Duterte). While men and women rate their satisfaction with Duterte at similar levels (79 and 72 percent respectively), a greater proportion of women (15 percent) report dissatisfaction with the president.

Higher dissatisfaction among women may be linked to Duterte’s vendetta against Senator Leila de Lima, who urged the government to scrutinize the president’s drug policy. In late-September, women senators united against plans by some lawmakers to show an alleged sex tape featuring De Lima as part of an investigation. “This is clearly a case of misogyny,” Risa Hontiveros, a Liberal Party lawmaker, said.

Duterte’s public support appears to be persisting for now, but isn’t necessarily an aberration in a historic context. However, for human rights groups concerned about the rising tide of extra-judicial killings and observers in the United States concerned about the health of the U.S.-Philippines alliance, the Philippine president’s continuing public support will be cause for concern.

I Bring Doom,and a bit of gloom, but mostly gloom.

So, he's both 'loved' (by most Filipinos) and feared (by those who are being targeted by his policies).

Duterte has been taking a leaf out of The Prince. Huh.

edited 6th Oct '16 7:34:55 PM by Quag15

He seems to be getting hatred by foreign powers though, which I'm pretty sure goes against The Prince, I'd have to check my copy for an exact quote though.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

Western foreign powers, primarily (not all foreign powers hate or despise him). And I suspect Duterte sees the Americans (or rather, the American government and its military forces) with the same contempt that Machiavelli saw the mercenaries of his time (which would help explain his attitude towards Obama - and the European governments, as well).

I also wonder if he's cosying up to China in order to get certain guarantees in regards to their maritime disputes. Whether he'll become a puppet of China or not will depend on how China sees him and on how they'll use their hand during negotiations and talks.

edited 7th Oct '16 11:38:45 AM by Quag15

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/07/16/philippines-tells-us-no-more-joint-sea-patrols

First time that he means it.

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http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/07/16/ph-can-cope-without-us-military-aid-defense-chief

The current head of DND is dreaming unless local manufacturers are supported.

Well, there's also the question of whether he is raising the contempt of the nobles... given the self congratulatory masturbation he's engaging in by claiming that locals and the CIA want him dead, there's a non-insignificant chance of that.

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot

A thought-provoking piece from columnist Randy David regarding Duterte's first 100 days in office:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/823086/dutertismo-the-first-100-days

Calling an end to joint sea patrols definitely won't guarantee that the Chinese will de-escalate their island base-building as well. (*sighs* Way to go...)

"Learn as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow."

A Filipino military spokesman stated that joint military exercises with the US "may" merely be scaled down or continue unchanged. Is there a counter for how much backtracking Filipino government spokespeople have had to do as of late?

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot

Geez, they flip-flop as often as Donald Trump.

Disgusted, but not surprised

Maybe because the President isn't directly in charge of those matters.

Inter arma enim silent leges

I imagine a lot of the higher-ups in the Philippine's government feel like this every time Duterte opens his mouth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbcE9BXZNfk

Disgusted, but not surprised

And I see reports in Sputnik News (yes, like RT) that Moscow is planning to sell the Philippines some surface-to-air missiles and helicopters. Take it as a grain of salt.

Some of the papers reported it, but it's as of far under consideration.