The Philippines: Forget everything you thought you knew about human rights

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > The Philippines: Forget everything you thought you knew about human rights

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

"Mr President, the drug addicts are revolting!"

"They certainly are!"

"What should I do?"

"Get me... Liam Neesons."

# ¿ Sep 2, 2016 15:03

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 18:37

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

And what is that, exactly?

# ¿ Sep 19, 2016 18:34

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

It's harder to intervene when the dictator was democratically elected.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2016 20:33

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

ANIME AKBAR posted:

This is adorable.

These days, I mean. Obviously many contrary examples in the past. But the only way Dutere is leaving prematurely is by pressure from Phillipinos.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2016 12:37

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

nopantsjack posted:

This is adorable.

So when Dutere says there is a CIA plot to kill him, you believe that?

# ¿ Oct 1, 2016 13:46

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

That was more of a State Dept thing I thought.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2016 20:44

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

Anyone suggesting that America is going to knock him off is pretty delusional. The question is how long before the Phillipino people (or the moneyed interests behind Duterte) realize the damage he's doing to their country and demand a change. I'm sure America will do what it can to encourage that point of view but fantasizing about shooting him is best kept to ones self.

^^^ what he said

# ¿ Oct 5, 2016 18:09

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

My perspective when Duterte was elected was 'let's see where he is in a year,' but I have no idea now how it is going to shake out. Even if people get sick of his extrajudicial death squads he's making changes that can't just be reversed. I'm not sure if US policy re: China and SE Asia ever considered that something like this might happen.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2016 18:36

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

BarbarianElephant posted:

"Getting sick of" extrajudicial death squads really doesn't happen. All that happens is that you end up facing them.

I meant that to mean that the negative effects of his actions become more apparent to his supporters, or start to affect them more directly.

As long as the guy has 90% support, he's going to keep on keeping on.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2016 19:41

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

Pinoy pride!

# ¿ Jan 19, 2017 16:29

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

Well, if W hadn't invaded Iraq...

# ¿ May 23, 2017 20:07

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# ¿ May 7, 2024 18:37

Mozi: Apr 4, 2004; Can't post for 9 hours!; Nap Ghost

When Duterte was elected, my feeling was that it was only after some time had passed that one could see whether or not a democracy would really be OK with such blatantly illegal, immoral, and crude conduct, or whether his administration would collapse on itself. (Obviously, Duterte wasn't the only elected official I had in mind here.)

Well, it's been a year since his election:

quote:

The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, celebrates his first year in office Friday. Since becoming president, he has picked a fight with former President Obama, cursed out the Pope, joked about raping women and declared his "separation" from the United States to pursue a more independent foreign policy with new friends China and Russia.

But none of that really matters at home.

What does matter is that Duterte ran for president promising a brutal, bloody war on drugs. And he's delivered.

More than 7,000 alleged drug suspects have died in extrajudicial killings, in encounters with police or gunned down in so-called vigilante killings. The killings have drawn widespread international condemnation, with Human Rights Watch describing Duterte's first year in power as a "human rights calamity."

But here's the thing: Duterte is actually more popular now than when he was elected.

A year ago, he won the presidency with just under 40 percent of the vote. Today, according to the latest opinion polls, his approval rating is between 75 percent and 80 percent.

"He's a man of his word. He's a man who does what he says he's going to do," says Clarisse Santiago, an 18-year-old student from Manila. "It's because of him that drug-related crime is going down."

"He's like a father for every Filipino," says Daniel Bernardo, 31, a political science Ph.D. student. "I believe in his integrity. Of course, you can't say he's perfect. He has flaws. But he's a game-changer, not a traditional politician."

Both are sitting in one of the many bars across the street from Manila's De La Salle University, where the clientele is mostly middle- to upper-middle class students. The extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs aren't much of an issue, at least among the Duterte supporters here.

"I don't even consider them extrajudicial killings," Bernardo says. "It's a moral killing, in a way. It's like a pest in your house. If you see a cockroach or a mosquito, you'd kill it. For me, if you're a drug user, a drug seller, you're a sickness in society. You need to disappear."

I have to admit, this wasn't exactly what I was hoping to read by this point.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2017 15:20

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > The Philippines: Forget everything you thought you knew about human rights