CronoGamer posted:

He said that U.S. advisers stationed in Mindanao (the southern island with the different insurgent groups) should leave... even though there are only about 200 of them at most and they don't really leave the base, just assist the Armed Forces Philippines with surveillance and reconnaissance.

Forcing the US advisers to leave would be a stupid move that hampers the AFP's ability to gather information on groups they're fighting, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

If he cancels the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or (even worse) the Visiting Forces Agreement, though, I think he will end up in trouble-- but not with the United States, with his own military. They're already baffled and unhappy with some of his latest pronouncements about canceling joint exercises and patrols to placate China, if he kicks the US out altogether they will be really upset.

TROIKA CURES GREEK posted:

It's not the 50s anymore, get over it.

Argue posted:

Philippine society, culture, and media are all cool and good and magnificant and amazing and if anyone says otherwise we will shoot them or get them literally banned from the country; is there anything else you wanted to know specifically?

Brannock posted:

"Can't we just drone this guy?"

computer parts posted:

The US sends a lot of farm equipment/generic Ag stuff, PH is mostly service stuff.

They'd probably be hurt a lot more than we would.

Artificer posted:

Holy gently caress. My God it really is the Filipino Trump.

BarbarianElephant posted:

The USA can't declare war on every lovely country in the world. If you haven't noticed, it rarely improves things. It's cold comfort to be killed by America's Nobly Aimed drones vs Duterte's death squads.

ihatepants posted:

Is that place normally accessible to the public? Like I am sure that it's going to be a very popular place for vandalism.

punk rebel ecks posted:

Wasn't he in charge of a district with a huge drug problem before?

Argue posted:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/848933/duterte-threatens-to-kill-human-rights-activists-if-drug-problem-worsens

Prism posted:

Does this mean he's a drug abuser and should, by his own metrics, shoot himself now?

FAUXTON posted:

Oh they like everyone outside North Korea has plenty of political awareness. The problem is in a lack of understanding to critically process the information they're made aware of. What you get is emotional thrashing driven by news sensationalism and a belief that your country is basically inhabited by Literally A Trillion meth addicts and the only solution is to just kill everyone and let god sort it all out because at least some action will have taken place.

A similar phenomenon is happening in the US with nominally rural inhabitants who aren't actually rural but are able to do all their daily errands without ever leaving their neighborhood. They gravitate towards sensational news about crime in the city and over time they start believing that every urban area is basically Aleppo and nobody cares about what it does for their property values and the only way to fix it is to burn the cities to the ground and build over the ashes with Shoppes at Legacy Towne Centre or whatever hog farms get named these days.

They aren't bright enough to actually process that poo poo and fall into a world where cities are war zones, your waiter is secretly Heisenberg, and capital punishment should be the minimum.

Pilsner posted:

What do you mean by "we" and "deal"? As in, you want to be able to convince Duterte fans they're wrong? Good luck.

I don't say Filipinos are dumb, but undereducated and perhaps a bit too trusting and naive in general, and even though they've had internet for a while, I guess you could draw a parallel to your "granma on the internet", who forwards and believes all kinds of poo poo they read with little criticism. Many people will paraphrase literally anything because they read it on a completely random, utterly uncertified and unverified Facebook link. It doesn't really defy belief to me, since I'm getting used to it, but that's how it is. Not much different from the rest of the world, is it these days?

I also think some of Duterte's sustained popularity is due to the "gently caress poo poo up" factor, where he just goes against the norm on many issues and makes his voice heard, and makes it sound like he's king poo poo of the world, Pinoy Pride and all that. It's like Trump's campaign where you'd hear fans say they just want someone to storm in and rip Washington apart, with little thinking ahead.

I also have no doubt that the absurd war of drugs he's running is fueled by massive media propaganda, leading people to believe drug users are "raping kids" and causing everything bad in society. It can be really easy to influence people if you have the media in on the ride, and enough gullible people.

Argue posted:

https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom/status/848863087255932929

PYF highlights from this speech he gave to children:

(translated)
1. "They say I kill people. Well I really do kill people if they mess with our kids."
2. [jokingly, to the kids] "Let me tell you about drug addicts--are any of you drug addicts?"
3. "Avoid the streets. Wear cologne in your house. Because if I catch you [making trouble], I'm going to throw you into the bay."
4. The part after the speech where two kids excitedly say to each other: "I'm going to become a soldier and kill rebels!" "I'm going to kill drug pushers!"

Argue posted:

Nah we're all good here. Anything you've heard to the contrary in this thread is yellow propaganda that the Aquinos paid Lowtax to promote, the same way they've been paying off the UN as well as every foreign publication.

ihatepants posted:

Looks like Duterte has his "Plaza Miranda" and subsequent justification for martial law throughout the country.

chird posted:

BBC - Duterte sings duet on Trump's request

gradenko_2000 posted:

chird posted:

Must be exhausting and maddening. With everything that has happened, Pulse Asia's September poll still has Duterte at a massive 75% approval and 72% 'big trust'. Only 10% of people disapprove.