Moral Politics in the Time of Duterte

 

By Menelito Mansueto 

One of the most underrated and neglected moral philosophies of all time is Socrates’ notion of virtue, or Socratic Virtue. That right insight leads to the right action. Or, in Socrates’ own terms: "He who knows what good is will do good." Or that virtue is knowledge. One may be reminded of Jose Rizal’s educational philosophy, which can be summed up simply as: “Teach by example.” Rizal ridiculed the Spanish conquistadores, including the friars, for having a lifestyle opposite to the ones that they taught. Rizal believed that a good teacher or professor must have an honorable personality to command and respect from the pupils or students. He wrote, “To be headed and to maintain authority, the teacher needs prestige, reputation, moral strength, and some freedom of action.”  

Since the teacher will serve as a role model to the students, s/he, therefore, must be virtuous in character. Nobody will believe in a friar who teaches to refrain from adultery if he himself is adulterous. To arrogantly say, “Follow what I say but not what I do” cannot be considered a genuine teaching for Rizal. He wrote to his sister Soledad, and these words have inspired me to aspire becoming a teacher: “I was pleased to know that you are teaching because your position will oblige you to improve yourself more and more in an effort to be a model of virtues and good qualities, for one who should teach should be better than the persons who need her learning.” Rizal’s teaching philosophy transcends the mere frame of academic excellence and penetrates deep into the person’s character, social commitment, and moral responsibility. 

Recently, a good professor and a humble friend of mine, Wataru Kusaka, gave a caveat online through his own social media account regarding a possible backlash as an effect of the merciless humiliation and the victimization of the Dutertes. Kusaka writes: “Duterte is ready to be a martyr, a real hero dying for Filipinos, which is likely to boost votes for the Duterte allies. Those who are laughing at and beating him must be careful with the scenario.” Kusaka is hinting at the upcoming midterm elections in the Philippines this coming 12th of May 2025. What he may be referring to as Duterte allies are the nine senatorial candidates under PDP Laban. Kusaka has a point. The narrative of martyrdom is indeed very much popular in the history of Philippine politics as consummated and exploited by the Aquinos: Ninoy, Cory, and Noynoy. The Cameroonian thinker Joseph-Achille Mbembe may be noteworthy for his groundbreaking work, Necropolitics. The deaths of Ninoy Aquino, Cory Aquino, and even Jesse Robredo have always had exciting twists in the Philippines’ political history. 

Being Japanese, Professor Kusaka is not used to the toxic social media culture that we have in the Philippines. Kusaka had a dose of this toxicity as his social media posts were flooded with hateful and vengeful comments, even from prominent scholars in the country as well as from wannabes and wokes. Some of these critics might be unaware or have neglected the fact that Kusaka is a published and well-cited author in the whole of Asia, especially on topics about the moral politics in the country. His most important book, Moral Politics in the Philippines, has had a total of 150 citations as of this writing. 

What is Kusaka’s moral politics in the Philippines about? Based upon his first-hand experience of the EDSA People Power 2, which ousted the former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Kusaka noticed the polarity of opinions from two different classes of Filipino society. There is a narrative from the elites who condemn the evil doings of President Erap. However, the ordinary people from the poor slums also have their own political narrative of the plight of politicians. There is an apparent moral divide based on the politics of the “good” and the “bad.” 

In the addendum of Kusaka’s book with a subheading, ‘Duterte as a Drastic Medicine’, Kusaka discussed in detail how moral politics is observed in the electoral victory of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. According to Kusaka, the narrative of discipline was victorious against the narrative of “decency” by the “daang matuwid” slogan of the Liberal Party. Fast forward to 2025, the once-robust Rodrigo Duterte has fallen to old age and declining health. Will this sacrificial lamb in the ICC turn out positive in favor of the true lady eagle, the daughter of the former President, now VP Sara Duterte? Is the martyrdom now in sight?  

Following Kusaka’s political theory, Dr.Christopher Ryan Maboloc, on the other hand, who is well aware of the toxic landscape of the Philippine academia, believes in the divide of political opinions between the Manila-centric scholars and those of the southern part of the country. In his publication on the Radical Democracy of the Time of Duterte, Maboloc explains that the underdevelopment in the regions, particularly in the southern regions of the country, was brought about by the Manila-centric attitude and hegemony that resulted in decades-long neglect of the Visayas and Mindanao. Even on international media reportage, Mindanao is continually misrecognized, degraded, and discriminated against. One can mention a certain Richard Heydarian's condescending and infamous comment comparing Mindanao's HDI level to Sub-Saharan Africa, in contrast to Luzon, which he likened to Southern Europe. This type of stereotyping and racist attitude are clear characteristics of moral polarizations. 

Heydarian is a propagandist, who like many Pinklawans, still believe that they are relevant to Philippine politics. They are not. They laugh without realizing that they are making fun of themselves since they are no more than losers in the game. Still, they continue their self-righteous and superiority complex driven narrative. The likes of Heydarian in academia, including those in the intelligentsia who proudly think that understanding Decolonialism is their exclusive domain as if others do not know how to read, are very far from what Socrates and Dr. Jose Rizal envisioned what moral virtue is supposed to mean in politics. They exhibit a double standard in the dynamics of morality and the the quest for true justice. Such is hypocritical and downright stupid!

- Menelito Mansueto is a Professor at MSU-IIT and author of Decolonial Turn in the Philippine South