Public authority

Published in Wienerin among others, 12.2018

By electing Rodrigo Duterte as their new president in summer 2017, the Philippines chose a man who had announced to kill drug addicts. In order to understand this catastrophe of civilisation, I travelled to Manila and spoke with voters, politicians and the bereaved of persons who had been killed. This is a society filled with discontent about elitist politicians and social injustice, which then trusted a vulgar tough man. One of the most tragic parts is that Duterte is not solving the problem of drug addiction as he has shown little interest in health policy. Instead, the occurrence of legal offences, as promised, have dropped. With one stark exception: under Duterte’s rule, there are more killings.

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© C. Gabuco

© C. Gabuco

By electing Rodrigo Duterte as their new president in summer 2017, the Philippines chose a man who had announced to kill drug addicts. In order to understand this catastrophe of civilisation, I travelled to Manila and spoke with voters, politicians and the bereaved of persons who had been killed. This is a society filled with discontent about elitist politicians and social injustice, which then trusted a vulgar tough man. One of the most tragic parts is that Duterte is not solving the problem of drug addiction as he has shown little interest in health policy. Instead, the occurrence of legal offences, as promised, have dropped. With one stark exception: under Duterte’s rule, there are more killings.

Read it as published in: