President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is arguably the only current world leader who’s fighting in different battlefronts around the world. Adam Garrie, United Kingdom political commentator pinpoints each and every faction that is warring Duterte
Local Battle Fronts
New People’s Army (NPA) – a group of communist insurgents that has been a problem of every Philippine President since the 1960s, they botched agreements with Duterte thus leaving him with no choice but to label them as terrorists.
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter (BIFF) – a Salafist jihadist portion of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that broke away due to clashing ideals and their rejection of the ceasefire that the MILF adheres to, also labelled as a terrorist organization.
Maute Group/Daesh/ISIS – a combination of Daesh-aligned local groups that still exist till today, despite the complete eradication of the Maute Group in October 2017. Those who exist though remain active in other parts of Mindanao, a certain threat to the locality and regional security.
Narco Gangs and Narco Politicians – decades worth of individuals and criminals that haunted the Filipino people throughout their existence. A threat to national security and economic development, Duterte faced the problem head on and warred with the drug traders. As a result, inevitable enemies were made.
Corrupt business oligarchs – with the recent issue on the environmental disaster of Boracay Island, many business oligarchs were threatened to be jailed due to their frequent bribing or threatening of local and national politicians. And again inevitable enemies were made due to Duterte’s drive to bring anti-corruption to the private sector.
European Battle Fronts
The United Nations Human Rights Commission – this is a confused case, where the UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein condemns Duterte with his efforts of ending the local drug trade. Despite being in line with the Philippine President’s cause, the Commissioner sees it fit that the Duterte undergoes a “psychiatric evaluation” after exposing ties of a UN official with the NPA.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) – a court that the three global superpowers (China, Russia and USA) are not a part of. The ICC is undergoing expensive investigations on Duterte for his “Crimes against Humanity” in correlation to the drug war. But the ICC is only a tool of the anti-Duterte Filipino-American business woman, Loida Nicolas Lewis, whom seeks to discredit and remove Duterte from office.
The US Congress – The Human Rights Commissioner Tom Lantos has been the “lead tactician” of the full-scale anti-Duterte agenda in the States, with proof being that he issued provocative statements against the Philippine President even after the US President Donald Trump admired Duterte’s Anti-Drug policies and suggested the execution of drug dealers of the US.
The Oldest Battle front
The Liberal Party of the Philippines and the Yellowtards – an opposition that lacks genuine interest in the welfare of the public, but guises their every motive as one that is in line with public service. They are the puppets of the US Congress, CIA, and European Union, their Filipino arm in penetrating the political, economic, and even cultural aspects of the Philippines.
With all these battlefronts struggling to topple down the sovereignty that Duterte aims to bring to the country, the current Philippine President is the David battling against a Goliath, but one who has found allies in previously ignored and overlooked neighboring states.
ASEAN countries, China, Russia, and India are some of the growing economic powers in the world that Duterte chose to secure partnerships with and do away with the dominance of arrogant western countries and organizations.
Despite being a daunting endeavor, Duterte has started to pound his iron fist when he rejected the authority of the International Criminal Court, fortifying his anti-corruption and anti-drug wars, and gradually transform the country into a federal republic.
The opposition uses the bastion of democracy as a weapon to paint Duterte’s administration as tyranny and make the public feel sour about his style of leadership, however, the approval ratings have been consistent and has shown that the masses are supportive and trusting of the President which puts to shame the opposition who claims to fight for democracy.
Garrie succinctly puts it this way, Duterte is “changing the nature of his country from one that serves into one that leads”.
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