Thammasat University students interested in ASEAN studies, the Philippines, political science, diplomacy, international relations, history, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 29 October Zoom webinar on The Philippines from Duterte to Marcos Jr: Change and Continuity.
The event, on Tuesday, 29 October 2024 at 9am Bangkok time, is presented by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.
The TU Library collection includes many books about different aspects of politics in the Philippines.
Students are welcome to register for the event at this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1917277548287/WN_awF4OL96S2CmIw0Du6juEw#/registration
The event website explains:
Rodrigo Duterte’s rise and the Marcoses’ return to power have captivated Southeast Asia watchers and the rest of the world. That the spectacle of strongman rule has allured most Filipinos is no longer in doubt, with the strong electoral mandate garnered by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2022. Whether their capture of state power is connected and what this portends about the country’s democratic future is the key theme of this seminar. The speakers are Filipino academics and practitioners who will provide much needed analysis about this political succession and what it means for Asia’s oldest liberal democratic republic.
This seminar will discuss a wide array of policies and issues regarding Duterte’s legacies in Philippine politics and society and how these issues are configured in the Marcos Jr administration. Key topics include constitutional change, environmental policies, local politics & the COVID-19 response, foreign policy, and disinformation in elections. Overall, the seminar suggests that while some policies and practices continue under the Marcos Jr. administration, pivotal changes indicate a break from the past. The presentations will also focus on the implications of the widening rift between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties to Philippine politics in the midst of democratic backsliding, economic challenges, and societal polarization.
This seminar will also publicly launch the recently edited volume published by ISEAS titled Games, Changes, and Fears: The Philippines from Duterte to Marcos Jr. The speakers and the moderator of this seminar have contributed chapters to this book.
About the Speakers
Panel 1: Domestic Politics & Policies
Opening Remarks Dr Aries A. Arugay
Coordinator and Visiting Senior Fellow, Philippines Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Panel 1: Politics & Policies
This session focuses on the legacies of the Duterte administration (2016-2022) in domestic politics & public policies as well as how these issues are being addressed and treated by the early part of the Marcos Jr government.
Specific topics in this session include the initiative of constitutional change, environmental policies, and pandemic politics at the local level.
Speakers: Dr Aries A. Arugay Coordinator and Visiting Senior Fellow, Philippines Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Dr Maria Ela L. Atienza Professor, Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines-Diliman
Dr Jan Robert R. Go Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines-Diliman
Dr Ruth R. Lusterio Rico Dean & Professor of Political Science, College of Social Sciences & Philosophy, University of the Philippines-Diliman
Panel 2: Disinformation and Social Issues
This session covers the impact of fake news and other forms of misinformation in politics and policies in the Philippines as a result of its prevalence during the Duterte administration as well as its current impact on the current Marcos Jr. government.
Specific topics in this session include how fake news was propagated in the country’s foreign policy in the South China Sea, disinformation and misogyny under Duterte, and fact-checking initiatives in Philippine elections. Moderator:
Speakers: Dr Aries A. Arugay Coordinator and Visiting Senior Fellow, Philippines Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Dr Charmaine Misalucha-Willoughby Professor and Chair, International Studies Department, De La Salle University, Manila
Dr Ma. Diosa L. Labiste Associate Professor, College of Media and Communication, University of the Philippines-Diliman
Dr Jean Encinas-Franco Professor, Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines-Diliman Panel 2: Disinformation & Social Issues
TU students may access the book Games, Changes, and Fears: The Philippines from Duterte to Marcos Jr. through the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Service.
The book’s introduction, as posted online by the publisher, begins:
Since 2016, the Philippines underwent profound policy and political changes under the leadership of firebrand and populist leader Rodrigo Duterte. These include major modifications in the country’s foreign policy through a more accommodationist stance towards China while undermining the military alliance with the United States. Beyond this foreign policy shift, Duterte has also instigated major assaults on the Philippines’ liberal and democratic institutions and the public sphere.
His populist rhetoric mobilized a broad political coalition that directly attacked the opposition, independent media, and civil society. The country’s major media network was deprived of a franchise to operate, a Supreme Court Chief Justice was removed from office, Duterte’s political opponents were incarcerated, and political dissidents and critics were labelled as communists and terrorists. By all metrics of democratic quality, the Philippine democratic regime underwent further erosion under the Duterte administration.
Without the benefit of hindsight, the rise of Duterte was welcomed by the country’s elites and masses. Similar with other populist strongmen such as Hugo Chávez, Thaksin Shinawatra, Recep Tayyip Edrogan, Victor Orban, Donald Trump, among others, Duterte’s capture of presidential power at the outset was a welcome change given the excesses and limitations of the Philippine liberal-democratic regime brought by the inspirational people power revolution of 1986.
There was no umbrella coalition of political forces that could have effectively prevented Duterte’s electoral victory. On the contrary, the Duterte era in Philippine politics ushered a swift and rapid concentration of power within the presidency unmatched since the martial law period.
With supermajority support in the legislature, Duterte was able to pass draconian policies, pounce the opposition, and had the fortunate timing of appointing critical positions in the judiciary and independent constitutional bodies that were supposed to safeguard democracy and the rule of law.
The results of the 2019 midterm elections for national and local political positions revealed Duterte’s domineering position in the political arena as the opposition failed to secure a seat in the twenty-four-member Senate, an institution historically known as a check to presidential power.
As the country entered a critical juncture with the May 2022 national elections, the legacies of the Duterte administration underwent an informal referendum from the Filipino electorate. The national campaign centred on whether Duterte’s mode of governance and political style should be continued or not. Among the major presidential candidates, the tandem of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the country’s late dictator, and Sara Duterte, President Duterte’s scion, committed to continuing the changes Duterte has started. On the other hand, leading opposition candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo promised to recalibrate Philippine democracy to its more liberal-democratic version by reversing the country’s democratic regression.
In the end, the elections delivered a majority mandate to Marcos Jr. as president and Sara Duterte as vice president, an electoral outcome unseen since Marcos Sr. got re-elected in the 1969 presidential elections.
History for the Philippines has indeed come full circle.
This edited volume is situated within this peculiar context. It analyses the policy legacies of the entire Duterte administration (2016–22) to the country’s society and politics on relevant themes such as economic policy, party politics, foreign policy, civil-military relations, civil society, social media, national security, and others. Second, it discusses the implications of the 2022 Philippine elections and the victory of the Marcos-Duterte alliance to the country’s democracy and provides an evidence-based examination of the new government’s policies and agenda. […]
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)