Fear of the unknown

Known for waging war against drugs and criminality by instilling fear in Davao City where he has been mayor for more than two decades, presidential candidate Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte has caught the imagination of a large number of people by promising to eradicate criminality in six months. He has also created expectations of radical change for the country.

Of late however, he has instilled a new kind of fear from so many people – the fear of the unknown. It would seem he has taken on the international community. We remember how early on in his campaign, the Davao mayor cursed Pope Francis over the resulting traffic in Metro Manila when the pontiff visited in January last year to console the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. The remark created a major firestorm especially because His Holiness is one of the most revered figures not only in the Philippines but all over the world. People certainly didn’t mind the traffic when the Pope was here – unlike the APEC Leaders’ Summit last November that angered a lot of Filipinos. The mayor got away with cursing the Pope by apologizing and even requesting for an audience with Pope Francis through the Papal Nuncio – who immediately transmitted the request to the Pontiff. Pope Francis sent back a message of forgiveness and offered prayers for the mayor.

Earlier this month, Duterte hit Mexico during a tourism forum, calling it the center of the drug trade and kidnappings and killings – right in the presence of Mexican Ambassador Julio Camarena Villaseñor who was in the audience. When Duterte realized his faux pas, he apologized and tried to lighten the moment by saying there are also other places with drugs and crime like the US and Russia – and then promptly hit back Mexicans after his speech, saying he does not see the need to apologize because what he said against Mexico is true. Of course, the Mexican Ambassador was obviously disturbed and defended his country.

And now, the latest offensive launched by Mayor Duterte has Australia and the United States as his target, telling the Australian and the US Ambassadors to “shut [their] mouth” following the envoys’ censure of the rape comment involving an Australian missionary who was raped and murdered during a 1989 jailbreak in Davao City. During a rally in Quezon City, Mayor Duterte said that he was so mad at the prisoners for raping the beautiful missionary and that he “should have been first.” It instantly drew flak from many sectors including the international community.

Rape and violence against women is a crime more heinous than drug trafficking or even murder because the victims relive the nightmare over and over. A rape victim once wrote – “Every night, I cry myself to sleep. When I wake up, I look out the window and I see raindrops, but actually it’s the tears in my eyes.”

The mayor has adamantly refused to apologize for his comment and instead told off the Australian and US ambassadors, saying he will sever ties with the United States and Australia when he becomes president. These two countries are our closest allies who have been helping our military’s goal to attain a minimum credible defense posture, and have been supportive with our current dispute involving China.

Duterte’s declaration of severing ties with the US and Australia came across as not only disturbing but destabilizing especially to the international community. The intelligence establishment is also starting to perceive the mayor as a threat to national security. In fact, I received a call from a reporter of the Stars and Stripes based in Hawaii where already there is a lot of chatter about Duterte’s latest pronouncements about the US role in the country’s security. There is major concern that Duterte seems “unstable,” and people are aghast at the thought that “if he could say such careless comments now that he is only a candidate, how much more so once he becomes president?”

We were told that Chinese embassy political officers watching from the sidelines are extremely amused with Duterte’s comments. Just exactly what the Chinese feel about the current political situation can be gleaned from the recent press briefing conducted by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying who, when asked about Duterte’s remarks that he is ready to shelve territorial disputes if China agrees to help the Philippines build railways and other infrastructure – expressed “hope that its new government can adopt positive and well-thought [out] policies towards China, properly deal with relevant disputes and improve bilateral relations with concrete actions.” This can only be interpreted as giving up our claim with the UNCLOS.

There is no doubt a large number of Duterte diehards still think he is the best bet because he represents real change, rationalizing the mayor’s comments as off-the-cuff and that the focus should be on his ability to deliver his promises. The latest ABS-CBN/Pulse Asia survey conducted April 12-17 with 4,000 respondents showed Duterte maintaining his lead at 34 percent. The fear of a Duterte presidency is finally beginning to sink in that there are now moves among the different parties to consolidate forces and stop the Duterte bandwagon. We have to remember, 66 percent of voters are not for the mayor.

For sure, the last and final presidential debate broadcast on ABS-CBN at 5 p.m. today could be the tipping point that can help shape the way things will go on May 9. As Duterte himself said, “it’s my mouth,” and “what you see is what you get... if you don’t like what you see or what you hear, then don’t vote for me.”