ABSTRACT
A distinction between President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and other populist leaders is intimately related to their respective goals. In most populist-led countries, particularly in Europe and to some extent in the United States, the nationalist turn is rooted in the identification of an “in” group (often characterized as the country’s elite) and an “out” group (the populace) which is placed in opposition to the establishment. In this case, most Filipinos describe themselves as “underdogs” against a vague “other.” Duterte positions himself as taking up the entire country’s cause. While he is condemned throughout the world for his regime’s brutality towards drug dealers, specific cohorts of women, and anyone else who opposes or threatens his authority, in the Philippines itself, large crowds enthusiastically cheer him on in a way reminiscent of the Trump base endorsing their hero. Unlike Trump, Duterte has spent decades burnishing an image of a violent overlord, claiming to have personally killed drug dealers and criminals himself while also sanctioning police and vigilantes to kill enemies of the state. Like fellow populists, Duterte is a man of contradictions, as this chapter will show.
