Nasty rumors will surely cause Duterte's fall

Mr. Duterte came into power after his minions took part in a myth creation exercise. Now, the very same strategy that enable him to capture the public imagination is now being used to topple Mr. Duterte down from the presidency. 

Surveys upon surveys show the same thing---Duterte's political capital is based on people's perception of him as a politician with an iron-cast will. Whether true or not, talks about Mr. Duterte attained mythical status which cemented a strong positive public perception of him. His entry into national politics was timed as an "answer" to the weakness of the previous dispensation. 

Contributory to the attainment of these myths into the national consciousness were two incidents that show weakness on the part of the previous regime: one, the Mamasapano incident and the last, Pnoy's refusal to address graft and corruption issues that hounded the last years of his administration.

Both incidents were squeezed off and publicity juices dried up. Pinoy was portrayed as a weak military leader. And of course, in the minds of the public, the solution to weakness is "toughness".

What solidified this perception was when talks about corruption bedeviled Pnoy's administration. Early on, drumbeaters of the Pnoy administration anchored or made a centerpiece out of the term "tuwid na daan." At an early stage, people admired the administration because Pnoy did exemplary things which indicated that the administration was for the creation of a just and equitable Philippine society.

However, as talks about corruption began to surface, and Pnoy did absolutely nothing, most Filipinos began hating the administration. People began discovering a deceptive veneer out of the administration. The inconsistency which the Pnoy administration has shown over handling graft and corruption worsened its public image.

What came about was people began losing faith in institutions. Mistrust began to rise. When trust dissipates, relationships suffer. And when relationships falter, people started looking for solutions to what they perceive as problems.

Pnoy's image began to represent weakness in leadership. And what is the solution to weakness in leadership? You guessed right---a tough talking sonafabitch.

Now, after speech after speech establishing himself as a sonafabitch, Duterte now bemoans that he is being demonized and being cast as a villain by millions of people.

He now begins to talk about his "soft side", which his handlers believe is the solution to the losing proposition that is the Duterte brand. Duterte now curses rather infrequently and reads prepared speeches after speeches, all the more, contributing towards his further slide to damnation.

They think that by softening Duterte, that will arrest the sliding perception of him as a leader. They are doing it the wrong way.

Aside from his mythical tough guy image, Mr. Duterte won because people thought he was a sincere leader. Now, because of rumors of his ill gotten wealth, his refusal to sign bank waivers, his soft treatment of his son Paolo's involvement in  drugs and smuggling activities, Mr. Duterte's sincerity is in question.

Why is it that Mr. Duterte indulged in a war against drugs? Rumors had it that Mr. Duterte surely has a personal problem with his sons who are reputedly also involved in drugs. Like another politician mayor whose son was even arrested selling and using drugs while his father mayor paints the walls of poor communities and accuses poor folks of drug pushing and use. Mr. Duterte wants to be seen as an anti-drugs crusader to hide the sad truth--his sons are into it. And people now are beginning to think that even Mr. Duterte is behind the spread and even heads the biggest drug syndicate in the country.

Why is Mr. Duterte soft on proposals to open his bank accounts? People are spreading rumors that Mr. Duterte hides billions of pesos of illicit wealth. Even after Mr. Duterte denied it many times over, even fumed at several instances, people are still unconvinced that he does not stole any single centavo of public funds.

As what this corner predicted a year and a half ago, Mr. Duterte will fall by his own sword. And it is happening now. Let me correct myself---Mr. Duterte is being swallowed by his own mouth. Mr. Duterte is smashing these myths that propelled him to power. He is deconstructing himself.

Bank waiver still pends as far as Duterte is concerned

I think our self-confessed toughie, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is surely not as tough as what he declares himself to be.

Weeks after Senator Antonio Trillanes IV dared Mr. Duterte to sign a bank waiver allowing the Anti-Money Laundering Council or AMLC to open his bank accounts for scrutiny, Mr. Duterte continues to dodge the issue.

The fact is---Malacanan is silent about the issue. Mr. Duterte tries to bury it by talking about other things. The Communications team has been successful in silencing traditional media. What they don't know is that this thing about the bank waiver is being actively talked about in several circles, and not only from intellectuals--but even in smaller gatherings in the backwaters of Philippine society.

I remember this was exactly one of the reasons why Mr. Marcos got himself booted out of power. Rumors about him, true or not, percolated widely underneath the surface.

These rumors stuck and until now, became part of the public conversation. This is something which the PCOO does not know---how to put an end to nasty rumors.

I am smiling now because the myth about Duterte came precisely thru rumor channels. And these rumors--about his malingering illness, his refusal to sign a bank waiver, his son Paolo's direct involvement in drugs and smuggling, his hidden wealth, his softness when it comes to corruption-- will surely escalate even more as his Communication team refuses to address these issues head-on.

Mr. Duterte came into power after his minions took part in a myth creation exercise. Now, the very same strategy that enable him to capture the public imagination is now being used to topple Mr. Duterte down from the presidency.