Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte dutifully went through the rituals of a tightly scripted inaugural ceremony last Thursday.  He embraced the full text of his prepared speech with good humor, giving it a tone and a cadence that hewed closely to the established patterns of inaugural speeches. The speech was brief and had a simple structure.  … Read more

The British vote to leave the European Union is likely to trigger a chain of complex reactions whose impact cannot be fully calculated. It has already caused a steep drop in the value of the pound sterling and of shares in the London stock market.  That was expected. But the ripple effects in the rest … Read more

THERE ARE suggestions that, recognizing the archipelagic nature of the country and the disparate cultures that thrived in it, Jose Rizal would have proposed a federal system of government for an independent Filipino nation.  Indeed, federalism might have appealed to those who, in the closing years of Spanish rule, were eager to kick out the … Read more

Is the Philippines worth dying for? On June 28, 1892, the eve of his return to the country, Jose Rizal eloquently stated the affirmative case on this question. Aware that he had become controversial and was likely to be hounded by the Spanish colonial authorities from the moment he stepped on the shores of the … Read more

Regardless of whether they voted for him or not, many Filipinos wish the incoming President, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, success as he prepares to assume the nation’s highest office.  His victory in the recent polls, it has been said, signifies the voters’ disenchantment with the status quo and their desire for urgent change. Duterte … Read more

Most political analysts have no problem in saying that the winner in the 2016 presidential election, Rodrigo Duterte, has earned a clear mandate. Yet, they will probably disagree with one another as to what this mandate instructs him to do. Duterte did not win by a majority, but by a simple plurality of just over … Read more

Politics is divisive, and it is absurd to object to it for being so. If it were not, it would not be able to perform its function of providing choice, building legitimacy, and checking abuse of power. Clearly, the other face of politics is integration. But, for integration to happen after a divisive exercise, political … Read more

PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s winning formula can now be formulated more clearly. The idea is to first get elected. What to do after can wait. For this to work, all that is needed is to grasp the public’s disaffection with government, and whip it into a heightened sense of frustration and exasperation so that no … Read more

He came from behind and from the margins, literally and figuratively. Those who had been cruising on the same highway for much longer didn’t see him coming. Then, on a bend, just as the road began to tighten, he picked up speed and barreled his way to the finish line. More than the frail borrowed … Read more

At the last presidential debate, the candidates were asked how they would deal with China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte had a ready answer. He will tell the Coast Guard to take him to the middle of the sea, and, from there, he will ride a jet ski to … Read more