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[titiklabingapat]

I'm just back from having 6 weeks in The Philippines and not once did I feel unsafe during my trip, in fact the main differences I saw were more people walking around at night and a distinct lack of child beggars hounding you for money (the ones that get sent by their parents to do this shit).

The citizens feel happy with their choice if you ask them (even the expats who can't vote are happy), they now feel like they can walk the streets without harm coming to them, most of the people I know voted for Duterte based on his anti corruption stance instead of his drugs policy and they mostly feel like they have made the correct choice and who could blame them, they had to sit back for decades and see all this shit grow around them while previous presidents did fuck all to stop it because they too were getting their pockets lined and the people have simply had enough of the corruption.

Maybe if past presidents had actually done something about the mass corruption, things wouldn't have been so bad and Duterte would never have won.

If electing Duterte was a mistake then that is their mistake to learn on their own and then hopefully grow from that mistake but for many of them it's not a mistake because they see in the news almost every day about another corrupt official who has been arrested and that makes them happy.

For the record I do not like Duterte but I am not a Filipino citizen, I have no right to tell a citizen of a different country who they should or should not have vote for, this is something many people forget.
It's always easy for people to judge others while watching from the relative safety of their own country.

The Philippines was already like that way before Duterte won the presidency. People have this notion that the Philippines was a shithole but it wasn't: it's actually a functioning democracy with pretty established institutions despite some years of instability after Marcos fell and during the Erap years. It's a myth that crime is rampant and drug dealers rule the land. Citizens by and large live peaceful everyday lives. Most of the trouble spots you hear on international news are isolated in the extreme southern end of the country but even that is dwindling. Even the communist inspired separatists groups (NPA) are no longer as active as they once were.

The Arroyo, and then Aquino years were actually remarkably stable and economic growth was starting to accelerate, being one of the fastest in East Asia for the last decade. Arroyo laid down the foundations of fundamentally fixing the economy. Aquino then continued it, and he started putting back faith of the government in people. Only in the last years did rumblings of 'change' start happening but it was confusing because by and large, all metrics were pointing to an upward trend for Filipinos. It was politicking and machismo that killed that momentum and Duterte was this shiny and loud new thing that took advantage of the Filipino masses' collective ADD.

 

[addik]

Ugh at people having supported this guy. Sure, it's one thing to apologize for this and for empowering a rabid fanbase, but hey, at least you don't get to live through this.

My family had also been attacked by supporters for not liking him, so the political just became very personal for us. My mom, who lived through Martial Law, remembers that Marcos went through the exact same process. Substitute "drug lords" for "commies," and things would have gone similarly.

Except, Russia and China are breathing down on us this time.

Ugh, our family has been planning to migrate for some time now. We don't feel at ease at all with the path Duterte is taking this country and the culture of hatred he's cultivating.

--EDIT: Before people say I dont understand the Dutere phenomenon, I grew up in Davao City. He has always been outspoken for his support on deatg squads.

 

[RocknRola]

Whelp....things are looking bad for the Philippines.....shame... hope they somehow get rid of him before he goes full Hitler :S

 

[Violet_0]

Well first off I'm not a Filipino citizen, I only went there for school, so I only had limited exposure to their politics.

Second I just admitted I did not see this coming, he hid his psychopathic personality very well. It's not like he campaigned under the I'm going to commit genocide banner. He was the law and order candidate, the city he was in charge of was considered one of the safest in the world (guess we now know why). People were far more concerned about electing someone with a track record of getting results because the previous president was basically elected because of his family name and was pretty ineffective.

If you lived there during the elections you would understand. He ran a flawless campaign really.

if you had watched foreign media reporting on the election, you would have noticed they frequently brought up the death squads. For us outsiders he always looked like a muderous tyrant in the making

 

[CloudWolf]

I honestly don't want to know what the Philippines were like before Duterte if so many people think this guy is improving the country,

 

[titiklabingapat]

I honestly don't want to know what the Philippines were like before Duterte if so many people think this guy is improving the country,

That's the thing, the country was not fundamentally different before he got voted in. In fact, it is an up and coming regional power. All bets are off now though and there are reports of foreign investors pulling back because of the instability being cause by this idiot. He has been insulting the USA (a longtime economic and military ally which has a mutual defense treaty with the country) lately and being chummy with Russia and China. The latter has a territorial dispute with the Philippines, too.

 

[Henkka]

Can this guy be impeached?

 

[Branduil]

I'm just back from having 6 weeks in The Philippines and not once did I feel unsafe during my trip, in fact the main differences I saw were more people walking around at night and a distinct lack of child beggars hounding you for money (the ones that get sent by their parents to do this shit).

The citizens feel happy with their choice if you ask them (even the expats who can't vote are happy), they now feel like they can walk the streets without harm coming to them, most of the people I know voted for Duterte based on his anti corruption stance instead of his drugs policy and they mostly feel like they have made the correct choice and who could blame them, they had to sit back for decades and see all this shit grow around them while previous presidents did fuck all to stop it because they too were getting their pockets lined and the people have simply had enough of the corruption.

Maybe if past presidents had actually done something about the mass corruption, things wouldn't have been so bad and Duterte would never have won.

If electing Duterte was a mistake then that is their mistake to learn on their own and then hopefully grow from that mistake but for many of them it's not a mistake because they see in the news almost every day about another corrupt official who has been arrested and that makes them happy.

For the record I do not like Duterte but I am not a Filipino citizen, I have no right to tell a citizen of a different country who they should or should not have vote for, this is something many people forget.
It's always easy for people to judge others while watching from the relative safety of their own country.

This is some "Mussolini kept the trains running on time" shit.

 

[duckroll]

This is some "Mussolini kept the trains running on time" shit.

He did though. Didn't he?

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

WOW. Who could have seen THAT coming?!?!?!

Yep. It was clear to the sanest of us here, but this fucking guy still had his defenders, and still does. (and there's no defense for anyone supporting him, it was clear from the outset how disgusting he was)

 

[andythinkpad]

Every time Trump said something outrageous, this guy said something 10 times worst.

I am pretty amazed he has managed to do some much damage without becoming a dictator for life first.

 

[Aranath]

Anyone saying they didn't expect this is kidding themselves. He made it blatantly obvious what his intentions were before he was elected and, lo and behold, he we are.

I was surprised when I started hearing the rhetoric coming out of his mouth before the election, because he was presenting an image of the Philippines that was completely at odds with what I'd heard from Filipino friends and friends who worked there as teachers. The man is a psycho on a murderous power trip and drugs are a convenient excuse.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

So... What exactly happened with the whole China violating their territorial waters? To me there seems to be a gap somewhere between Duterte going "fuck off China" and now "we still want to be friends"...

 

[Frozenprince]

I'm just back from having 6 weeks in The Philippines and not once did I feel unsafe during my trip, in fact the main differences I saw were more people walking around at night and a distinct lack of child beggars hounding you for money (the ones that get sent by their parents to do this shit).

The citizens feel happy with their choice if you ask them (even the expats who can't vote are happy), they now feel like they can walk the streets without harm coming to them, most of the people I know voted for Duterte based on his anti corruption stance instead of his drugs policy and they mostly feel like they have made the correct choice and who could blame them, they had to sit back for decades and see all this shit grow around them while previous presidents did fuck all to stop it because they too were getting their pockets lined and the people have simply had enough of the corruption.

Maybe if past presidents had actually done something about the mass corruption, things wouldn't have been so bad and Duterte would never have won.

If electing Duterte was a mistake then that is their mistake to learn on their own and then hopefully grow from that mistake but for many of them it's not a mistake because they see in the news almost every day about another corrupt official who has been arrested and that makes them happy.

For the record I do not like Duterte but I am not a Filipino citizen, I have no right to tell a citizen of a different country who they should or should not have vote for, this is something many people forget.
It's always easy for people to judge others while watching from the relative safety of their own country.

4000 people. People. Human beings. Have been systematically murdered in less than 3 months.

Jesus...

 

[PJV3]

4000 people. People. Human beings. Have been systematically murdered in less than 3 months.

Jesus...

You're safe until you're dead on the floor with a bit of scrawled on cardboard hanging around your neck.

 

[andythinkpad]

So... What exactly happened with the whole China violating their territorial waters? To me there seems to be a gap somewhere between Duterte going "fuck off China" and now "we still want to be friends"...

He probably will make co-developing deal with China and slowly sweep the ruling under the rug, now that the bridge with US has been burnt.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

He probably will make co-developing deal with China and slowly sweep the ruling under the rug, now that the bridge with US has been burnt.

What a tough guy.

 

[Jackpot]

Second I just admitted I did not see this coming, he hid his psychopathic personality very well.

His campaign platform was literally "I will kill 100,000 people".

http://www.todayonline.com/world/as...100000-criminals-revives-spectre-death-squads

If you lived there during the elections you would understand. He ran a flawless campaign really.

"Flawless campaign" = boasts about personally killing 3 people and wanting to rape others.

For the record I do not like Duterte but I am not a Filipino citizen, I have no right to tell a citizen of a different country who they should or should not have vote for, this is something many people forget.
It's always easy for people to judge others while watching from the relative safety of their own country.

And yet you're in every Duterte thread defending mass-murder.

 

[IpsoFacto]

Still amazingly stupid comments aside, just how bad exactly is the actual drug traffiking problem in the Phillipines that warrants quite frankly such a baroque measure like this one?

Mexico is a drug cartel hell hole hence the daily violence but I never got the full scope of Phillipine's drug traficking problem.

 

[Kthulhu]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

Well this certainly explains a lot.

 

[Bleepey]

You're like a living parable for all the Americans still awake

Or Brexit Brits!

 

[Gozer the Gozerian]

This makes me sick. Really worried for what the coming months and years will bring to the Philippines.

 

[Undead]

His campaign platform was literally "I will kill 100,000 people".

http://www.todayonline.com/world/as...100000-criminals-revives-spectre-death-squads



"Flawless campaign" = boasts about personally killing 3 people and wanting to rape others.



And yet you're in every Duterte thread defending mass-murder.

That's a hell of an accusation, I would be quite interested to see any proof you must surely have of me saying that I defend murder, I mean you will have proof, right? you can't possibly be dumb enough to accuse someone of something without the actual proof to back that up, can you?.

Don't worry, I'll wait for you to find it, you must surely have something, I mean you're bordering on slander.

I did have a much longer post in mind but then I remembered where I am and realized how little I care.

 

[Bishop89]

The Philippines was already like that way before Duterte won the presidency. People have this notion that the Philippines was a shithole but it wasn't: it's actually a functioning democracy with pretty established institutions despite some years of instability after Marcos fell and during the Erap years. It's a myth that crime is rampant and drug dealers rule the land. Citizens by and large live peaceful everyday lives. Most of the trouble spots you hear on international news are isolated in the extreme southern end of the country but even that is dwindling. Even the communist inspired separatists groups (NPA) are no longer as active as they once were.

The Arroyo, and then Aquino years were actually remarkably stable and economic growth was starting to accelerate, being one of the fastest in East Asia for the last decade. Arroyo laid down the foundations of fundamentally fixing the economy. Aquino then continued it, and he started putting back faith of the government in people. Only in the last years did rumblings of 'change' start happening but it was confusing because by and large, all metrics were pointing to an upward trend for Filipinos. It was politicking and machismo that killed that momentum and Duterte was this shiny and loud new thing that took advantage of the Filipino masses' collective ADD.

Well it's your word against my philippino co-workers who lived there and say the opposite

 

[Solemn_In_Berlin]

We'll be fine. It doesn't look like it, but we're managing and getting better. There's a people here. Yes, there's a people here amidst the seeming lack of empathy and poverty and corruption. There's a people here who won't forget and who won't be silenced.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

He did though. Didn't he?

no
http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/trains.asp

He instituted some repairs.

The trains collapsed again during WWII because fascism sucks

 

[Jackpot]

That's a hell of an accusation, I would be quite interested to see any proof you must surely have of me saying that I defend murder, I mean you will have proof, right? you can't possibly be dumb enough to accuse someone of something without the actual proof to back that up, can you?.

Don't worry, I'll wait for you to find it, you must surely have something, I mean you're bordering on slander.

I did have a much longer post in mind but then I remembered where I am and realized how little I care.

You got it, buddy:

I'm just back from having 6 weeks in The Philippines and not once did I feel unsafe during my trip, in fact the main differences I saw were more people walking around at night and a distinct lack of child beggars hounding you for money (the ones that get sent by their parents to do this shit).

The citizens feel happy with their choice if you ask them (even the expats who can't vote are happy), they now feel like they can walk the streets without harm coming to them

they mostly feel like they have made the correct choice and who could blame them

I don't fully know why people are shocked by this [killing jorunalists].

for years they have heard empty promises about solving it and enough was enough so when Duterte came along with a proven track record of killing criminals and corrupt people, it was obvious who the people were going to vote for

Duterte isn't the only one that will kill journalists

Duterte seem like a pacifist by comparison

"Thank goodness for Duterte! Don't you dare judge him if you don't live here, unlike me who only vacations there."

 

[MUnited83]

I'm just back from having 6 weeks in The Philippines and not once did I feel unsafe during my trip, in fact the main differences I saw were more people walking around at night and a distinct lack of child beggars hounding you for money (the ones that get sent by their parents to do this shit).

The citizens feel happy with their choice if you ask them (even the expats who can't vote are happy), they now feel like they can walk the streets without harm coming to them, most of the people I know voted for Duterte based on his anti corruption stance instead of his drugs policy and they mostly feel like they have made the correct choice and who could blame them, they had to sit back for decades and see all this shit grow around them while previous presidents did fuck all to stop it because they too were getting their pockets lined and the people have simply had enough of the corruption.

Maybe if past presidents had actually done something about the mass corruption, things wouldn't have been so bad and Duterte would never have won.

If electing Duterte was a mistake then that is their mistake to learn on their own and then hopefully grow from that mistake but for many of them it's not a mistake because they see in the news almost every day about another corrupt official who has been arrested and that makes them happy.

For the record I do not like Duterte but I am not a Filipino citizen, I have no right to tell a citizen of a different country who they should or should not have vote for, this is something many people forget.
It's always easy for people to judge others while watching from the relative safety of their own country.

You can feel safe if you're not against the regime, which if you are you will be labeled as an "addict" or "drug dealer" and be savagely murdered


Very safe indeed.



And yes I can judge that piece of shit and the pieces of shit who support him.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Well it's your word against my philippino co-workers who lived there and say the opposite

I lived there too. Crime just isn't that big of a problem there in modern times, especially compared to before. You had the rolling blackouts of the 90s and coup attempts. You had the martial law until the 80s. You had communist separatists in the 60s and 70s.

It just seems like everything is going to shit because everything is magnified now by social media and the internet. You can see the same effect happening in the USA where crime is at historical laws but everyone is convinced everything is going to the shithouse.

 

[addik]

Well it's your word against my philippino co-workers who lived there and say the opposite

I currently live in the Philippines and I'm with titiklabanapat. I felt much safer before than I do now. Heck even the checkpoints they place in our neighborhood (because we live near an outspoken university) is scary.

Still amazingly stupid comments aside, just how bad exactly is the actual drug traffiking problem in the Phillipines that warrants quite frankly such a baroque measure like this one?

Mexico is a drug cartel hell hole hence the daily violence but I never got the full scope of Phillipine's drug traficking problem.

I remember there being data that actually placed figures close to the US range, aka not that bad at all. That said, the drugs that are widely sold (shabu) are used mainly by a lot of low-income individuals/group, so these drugs have an ill effect on society.

But what Duterte is doing is even way more sick. Thanks for developing a culture of hatred, misinformation, and fear.

US, this is what you get if you let a guy like Trump win. By all means, stop him now that you have a chance.

 

[titiklabingapat]

I currently live in the Philippines and I'm with titiklabanapat. I felt much safer before than I do now. Heck even the checkpoints they place in our neighborhood (because we live near an outspoken university) is scary.



I remember there being data that actually placed figures close to the US range, aka not that bad at all. That said, the drugs that are widely sold (shabu) are used mainly by a lot of low-income individuals/group, so these drugs have an ill effect on society.

But what Duterte is doing is even way more sick. Thanks for developing a culture of hatred, misinformation, and fear.

US, this is what you get if you let a guy like Trump win. By all means, stop him now that you have a chance.

Hmmm, I see your name. You better hide from Duterte, my man!

 

[duckroll]

no
http://www.snopes.com/history/govern/trains.asp

He instituted some repairs.

The trains collapsed again during WWII because fascism sucks

Wow, damn! It was a lie all along! Fucking propaganda! Lol.

 

[killertofu]

Listening to a press conference of this dude and it's like hearing my dad go on a weird rant/speech/thing. Not like my dad wants to kill drug dealers or aspires to be Hitler but theres something about the way he's speaking... it's like a weary old angry Filipino man.

I can kinda see why people in the Philippines are drawn to him. They want to rip the bandaid clean. They want that Singapore status, I get it. I don't agree with the platform but I can wrap my head around it.

I mean if I were the President I'd rule with an iron fist too

by iron fist I mean iron that backdrop and those flags goddamn.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Listening to a press conference of this dude and it's like hearing my dad go on a weird rant/speech/thing. Not like my dad wants to kill drug dealers or aspires to be Hitler but theres something about the way he's speaking... it's like a weary old angry Filipino man.

I can kinda see why people in the Philippines are drawn to him. They want to rip the bandaid clean. They want that Singapore status, I get it. I don't agree with the platform but I can wrap my head around it.

I mean if I were the President I'd rule with an iron fist too



by iron fist I mean iron that backdrop and those flags goddamn.

And they were on thier way to that too. Until this mokong got into power. Now investors are all pulling out of the country.

 

[ss_lemonade]

I'm watching the video now where this came from and it sounds like he's frustratingly trying to defend himself from people comparing him to Hitler. Casually saying that he'll slaughter 3 million addicts/people though, now that's fucking crazy

 

[jufonuk]

The Alt-Right isn't going to die until Putin hangs. Duterte is yet another pawn like Farage, Trump, D.Duke, and Lutz Bachmann among a large list of Russian agents who belong in a cell for treason.

Wait Farage works for Putin? I just thought Farage was a twat.

 

[agentofatlas]

Well it's your word against my philippino co-workers who lived there and say the opposite

Lived in the Philippines all my life. Like any city there are areas that are dangerous, but what the guy you quoted said was true.

 

[SporeCrawler]

That's the thing, the country was not fundamentally different before he got voted in. In fact, it is an up and coming regional power. All bets are off now though and there are reports of foreign investors pulling back because of the instability being cause by this idiot. He has been insulting the USA (a longtime economic and military ally which has a mutual defense treaty with the country) lately and it's being chummy with Russia and China. The latter has a territorial dispute with the Philippines, too.

up and comming regional power? In a region where US, China and Japan are wrestling for hegemony and after pissing Off two of those powers? Yeah good luck with that

 

[Froli]

Well it's your word against my philippino co-workers who lived there and say the opposite

Your Co-workers are wrong.

 

[Raysoul]

I work at 6pm to 3am shifts and my travel time going home is about 1 and a half hour. There is an increase in the number of checkpoints, but that doesn't mean all areas of Metro Manila are safe. You can still roam the business areas safely at night, but I don't think you are that safe on most poor residential areas (specially squatter areas).

The initiative of Duterte is good. The implementation is still 50/50.

As for the genocide remarks, I don't think he'll do it. This conflicts with the earlier plans of the rehabilitation of the drug addicts. Not that it is an excuse, comparing yourself to a genocidal maniac is insane.

 

[v1oz]

What is he gonna do about China? Is he gonna bad mouth China and make threats?

 

[DonMigs85]

What is he gonna do about China? Is he gonna bad mouth China and make threats?

No, he's sucking up to them and Russia and insulting the USA

 

[Keasar]

He just compared himself to Hitler and considered it a favorable comparison.

And people defend this guy?

This guy?

"but he is democratically elected so it's all good. It's the people's choice. "

Fucking disgusting....couldn't stomach those pictures.

 

[andythinkpad]

up and comming regional power? In a region where US, China and Japan are wrestling for hegemony and after pissing Off two of those powers? Yeah good luck with that

It doesn't matter. Killing drug dealer doesn't improve your economy in any way. It's such a dumb policy.

 

[malikhaing_bayag]

Still amazingly stupid comments aside, just how bad exactly is the actual drug traffiking problem in the Phillipines that warrants quite frankly such a baroque measure like this one?

Mexico is a drug cartel hell hole hence the daily violence but I never got the full scope of Phillipine's drug traficking problem.

I live in a neighborhood that can be classified as "Bad" and the other block has some drug users that sometimes does illegal stuff like small time thievery and drug trafficking but I think it's also bad to require this treatment. The government should not kill its citizens instead they should try to improve their lives to prevent them frlm doing bad things. Most of these people just try to live by what is available since education and jobs are lacking from them since birth. I believe his drug war would just create more problems in the end.

People here sort of see this as the easiest way to society's problems. But I guess what most of his supporters of Duterte fail to see is that killing these folk is not the end all solution to corruption or poverty.

Also it does not feel any safer now than before even if you have not done anything wrong. A bad place is still a bad place. A corrupt government official is still corrupt. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time can still get you in trouble here. I make sure to always be vigilant when I'm out and I do not feel any safer.

The other night 2 people got killed by masked vigilantes near my home and the masked vigilantes were the ones who called the police. This was verified by our local barangay. All of these are anecdotal and even if these vigilantes are not affiliated with the government the fact that our president wages a war on small time drug traffickers can make these small time vigilantes or drug syndicates use this as an excuse to kill others.

 

[norinrad]

Must be the year of the silly prime ministers and presidents.

 

[FStubbs]

Oh I understand exactly how he got elected. Filipinos are easily swayed by personality more than policy,and he was the loudest of the bunch. It happened with Marcos, it happened with Erap, and it's happening again with Duterte. Pacqiao won a senate seat for chrissake!

I have seen it first hand, and continue to see it all the time. Just look at how dynasties and nepotism are a fact of life in Philippine political discourse. A person literally lists being related to someone in power as a pre-requisite for winning a contested seat. It's not very uncommon to see someone's spouse take over a position just because the other spouse died. It happened with Aquino, too.

It's a way of life here in America too. Don't feel bad.

I mean, look at Trump. Then consider a good deal of Trump's supporters are worse than he is.

 

[Cromat]

Hitler killed six million not three you cunt.

 

[mikeBlack]

And they were on thier way to that too. Until this mokong got into power. Now investors are all pulling out of the country.

They were on their way to it... and at the same time moving further away from it due to the population explosion. Yes the middle class was growing & gdp rising, and both of those things will probably shrink now. But the country is fundamentally crippled by its almost exponential population growth.

 

[Apt101]

He's a frightening man. He has the potential to inflict great harm upon the people, far worse than he has already done. The state seems to be behind him.