Duterte’s war on drugs in the Philippines can’t hide his policy incompetence

Manjit Bhatia says despite the sound and fury, it’s clear his foreign policy is naive and he has no credible plan to tackle the country’s crippling poverty

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A funeral parlour worker catches his breath after carrying the body of an alleged drug user, who was killed during a police operation against illegal drugs in Manila. Photo: EPA

Published: 3:19pm, 23 Sep 2016Updated: 7:18pm, 23 Sep 2016

So much for his regret. Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has told the European Union to go “f**k” itself for condemning his extrajudicial killing of suspected drug-pushers and addicts, just days after he expressed regret about calling US President Barack Obama a “son of a whore”.

Critics at home have not been spared, either. This week, Duterte removed Senator Leila de Lima as head of a Senate investigation into the killings.

Few can deny Duterte’s ugliness – from his crude nationalist populism and foul mouth to his mania for gun-toting, bloodthirsty vigilantism. So, is he just a bad boy or a psychopath?

Joseph Estrada was the country’s laughing stock. If he weren’t also dangerous, Duterte’s antics could easily surpass Estrada’s in terms of comic appeal. Ferdinand Marcos, president and kleptocrat from 1965 to 1986, ruled the country by military dictatorship for much of that time, before the Catholic-Church-led people’s revolution ousted him.

Martial law ended in 1981. Yet, three months into Duterte’s term as president, Filipinos appear willing to return to a form of dictatorship.

The latest talk surrounds Duterte’s foreign policy switch, which, some suggest, marks a brave moment in the Philippines’ future trajectory. Notwithstanding its long-time dependence on Washington’s largesse, these analysts claim Duterte’s vow to end cooperation with the US military amounts to a pivot from the US.