Duterte, Davao bombing and the ASEAN Summit

In the bombing in Davao so many innocent people were killed and wounded. It could be any of the groups against Duterte’s relentless drive for change. And they are many – the drug lords, the Liberal party opposition, their cohorts and terrorists. Speaking with military generals behind him, such violence can be expected in a democratic society. The task is proper surveillance. This will be immediately done and the perpetrators punished.

Ironically, it is the calmness of President Duterte in the face of threats and violence that protects him. It was his mantra when he decided to take up the challenge to lead our country. He is willing to die for the country to get rid of drugs and criminality. These are formidable enemies. But once he decided to run his attitude about death disarmed them. Remember that his election was a miracle without money or political kingpins to support him. This was outside traditional politics.

Before I end this part of my column I am intrigued why Vice-President Leni Robredo said just days before the bombing, “I am just waiting for things to happen.”

A columnist in another newspaper said never mind the Dutertistas in the millions who voted for him and the change he promised. They are only 16.6 million. It was widely known that he was cheated but the PCOS machines votes were not enough to stop the avalanche of votes for him. His enemies had to backtrack or incite a violent revolution.

We are now in a war against drug lords who have interwoven into our present system of politics and government. But President Duterte is unfazed even if his enemies, both local and foreign, are using an international arsenal of weapons against him. He has his own allies – the Filipino people.

We must remain steadfast in keeping the revolutionary impetus of the results of May 16 election which made Duterte president.

Despite the horrific bombing in the Davao market his response was restrained but confident. His political enemies had expected him to use the incident to declare martial law. He used less confrontational words. Instead he declared a state of lawless violence. He would use his calling power for more stringent measures but stay close to a democratic system and continue with his campaign promise to change our Constitution for a parliamentary federal government.

As ruled by the Supreme Court in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines vs Zamora (G.R. No. 141284, August 15, 2000), the president’s calling out power can be used “whenever it becomes necessary, the President may call the armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion or rebellion.”

I believe that he will need more than calling power especially against drug lords with international power.

“A people’s revolution brings with it a revolutionary government and the person bestowed to head it, revolutionary powers. He can rule by executive decree. In other instances, it can be rule by a revolutionary council with a chairman as its head.”BayanKo adviser Jose Alejandrino told this column.

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An outside source thinks the Davao bombing was timed just before Duterte’s trip to Laos for the ASEAN meeting. This would make him less effective for an extraordinary chance to be a world leader.

“In just a few days President Duterte will be meeting his regional counterparts at the ASEAN Summit in Laos. It will be his first major international meeting as President of the Philippines. The meeting comes at a challenging time for the international community. The Brexit vote for the UK to leave the EU represents a major setback in the great European experiment, election rhetoric in the United States threatens to spillover to foreign policy. We are far from immune in this with the Philippines potentially at the center of one of the flashpoints in international relations over the South China Sea or as some prefer to call it, the West Philippine Sea. The meeting holds greater than usual importance for the Philippines than usual – the world’s eyes will be watching language in the communique and references to the South China Sea and as the next chair of ASEAN, the world will be looking for clues on the tone the Philippines will set for our year as chair.

The Philippines’ year as chair comes at a critical time for ASEAN – not only because of differences in approaches to the region’s relationship with China have been laid bare on the international stage but also because next year will be its 50th anniversary. We should grasp this opportunity to help define a forward looking vision for Southeast Asia. ASEAN’s softly softly approach has served the region and the world well, by focusing on areas of common interest ASEAN has helped to provide a platform for Southeast Asian nations to engage each other as they develop their own economies and sense of purpose in the world. The post-Cold War world has seen regional processes proliferate to expand that process to include the broader Asia-Pacific region. If Southeast Asia is our neighborhood then the Asia-Pacific is our village. We cannot escape that geographic reality.

Just two months after the ASEAN and East Asia Summits in Laos, President Duterte is expected to travel to Lima for the APEC leaders’ meeting. This comes just a year after the Philippine chairing of APEC during the final months of the previous administration. These occasions will give the President an opportunity to engage one-on-one with his counterparts around the world. One common theme confronting all leaders today is the challenge that President Duterte focused on in his inaugural address “Erosion of faith and trust in government – that is the real problem that confronts us.”

Traveling to Peru is a long trip but one that I hope the President will make. As much as Southeast Asia is our neighborhood, we also share a kinship with South America. As former colonies of Spain we share a past that we should not forget. That past has left indelible marking on our culture, in language, society and culture. We have all gone through periods of autocracy and dictatorship in our recent histories as well as armed uprisings and secessionist movements. Most recently Colombia has finalized a peace agreement to end decades of struggle and murders. If Peru hosts a dialogue between APEC and the Pacific Alliance, President Duterte will have an opportunity to meet with Colombia’s President in Lima.