President Duterte has been noted for his aggressive approach to the war on drugs, to the extent that many people are killed without any legal or judicial proceedings, considered a human rights violation (TomLantosHumanRights, 2017). Mr. Kine of Human Rights Watch noted that the reality is actually a “war against the poor.” Mr. Carlos, who leads the human rights protection agency in the Philippines iDEFEND, said that this war on drugs is an attempt at social cleansing of the most vulnerable. Furthermore, the police have been known to hire hit squads to carry out killings, are are so filled with corruption that they are not trusted among the Filipino people (Sheena, 2018). “Yet [Duerte’s] gangland approach to combating crime and drugs has largely endeared him to Filipinos who have suffered high rates of violent crime and who see him as a refreshing change from the sophisticated but out-of-touch elite who have ruled this country for most of the last three decades” (Paddock, 2017, par.17). Duterte has rejected the elitist way of life common to government officials and instead lives simply, which aligns him with the majority of Filipinos. Despite his violent nature, he has shown compassion towards sick children particularly.
It is hard for me to not compare President Duterte with U.S. president Trump. Not all may agree, but Duterte’s narcissism, deflection from traditional politics and diplomacy, his support of violence, his boasting of womanizing, his blatant disrespect for journalists, hypocritical (in Duterte’s case, with his addiction to drugs while aggressively waging a war on drugs), a tendency to humiliate those he dislikes, and his “outrageous remarks” (Paddock, 2017, par. 75) all strike me as similar to Donald Trump’s behaviors. It is not surprising that Trump praised Duterte for his success in the war on drugs (Sheena, 2018).
“Leadership in the Philippines even from the grassroots point of view is full of challenges considering that crisis penetrates all sectors of society. Political and educational crises are the most publicized because they affect the economy. It is common knowledge that the country’s economy is primarily supported by remittances from overseas foreign workers” (Cimene & Aladano, 2013). This is also a topic explored in the documentary film (Watt, 2015), where the women, who are mostly all mothers, say that they are seen as heroes because they are providing for their families and boosting the economy in the Philippines. “However, this condition has resulted in the disintegration of families in particular and society in general. The greatest leadership challenge for the government then is to provide employment for its people so that they don’t have to work abroad” (Cimene & Aladano, 2013).
According to Hofstede Insights (n.d.) The Philippines has a power distance score of 94, meaning that people generally accept an inequal distribution of power, and have a hierarchical societal structure. “This means that people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organization is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat” (Hofstede Insights, n.d., par. 3). When viewed in this manner, it is understandable why a strong and decisive leader, such as President Duterte is popular, and why there may have been a general acceptance to the dictatorship of Marcos (Reyes, 2018). The Philippines is also a collectivistic society with a score of 32 (Hofstede Insights, n.d). Relationships and loyalty are highly valued.
The collectivistic nature and family-oriented culture of the Philippines values leaders in the workplace which foster close interpersonal relationships with employees, which gives a sense of belonging and builds intense loyalty (Cimene & Aladano, 2013). Successful leaders bond with their staff, spend time with them both in and outside of the work environment, and attend celebrations together, which are loved in Philippine culture. Hard work is valued because it is a way of giving one’s family a priority of ensuring their financial needs. However, the flip side of this is that it is not uncommon for organizational leaders to engage in nepotism and corruption which puts their own family members ahead of others. Ultimately, it is the culture of the organization which is encouraged by leadership which allows them to be strong leaders.
Relationships with others are highly valued, and so the use of networking in order to gain and advance a leadership role is critical (Cimene & Aladano, 2013). Building accomplishments within an organization can also establish a reputation in the community, which builds further support for a leader. High self-esteem is valued as a trait of leaders (Cimene & Aladano, 2013), which could also explain some of the popularity of Duterte.
Cimene and Aladano (2013) stress that an indigenous Filipino approach to leadership and management is preferred. They reject those who would attempt to apply purely Western methods of business and leadership which force systems to be inappropriately contextualized to a non-Filipino culture.
It is interesting to note that the Philippines has already had several women as presidents, such as Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992) and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2001-2010) (Guthrie-Jensen Consultants, 2017). We also must acknowledge the leaders who have fought against the government for the sake of human rights, such as Joker Arroyo (Reyes, 2018). This was explored in more depth in our previous module discussions.
References
Cimene F.T.A., Aladano A.N. (2013) Leadership Perspective from the Philippines: Its Implications for Theory, Research and Practice. In: Rajasekar J., Beh LS. (eds) Culture and Gender in Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137311573_4
Hofstede Insights. (n.d.). Country comparison: Philippines. https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/the-philippines/
Guthrie-Jensen Consultants. (2017). 7 Philippine Presidents, different leadership styles. Insights: The Guthrie-Jensen Blog. https://guthriejensen.com/blog/7-philippine-presidents-different-leadership-styles/
Paddock, R. (March 21, 2017). Becoming Duterte: The making of a Philippine strongman. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-president-strongman.html
Reyes, O. (2018, October 8). The Defense Rests: The Joker Arroyo Story. Esquiremag.Ph. https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/profiles/joker-arroyo-bio-a1542-20181008-lfrm5
Sheena, M [username]. (2018, March 20). The Philippines Deadly War on Drugs | BBC FULL Documentary . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF8ysVBSxwM&t=1769s
TomLantosHumanRights [username]. (2017, July 20). The human rights consequence of the war on drugs in the Philippines . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHzcJGjtTvQ
Watt, G. [username]. (2015, September 13). BBC HardTalk on the road in the Philippines. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0XUQa55OhI&t=12s