Hardline supporters of Rodrigo Duterte
Diehard Duterte Supporters (DDS ) is a label popularly associated with (and also adopted by) the supporters of the 16th
president of the Philippines ,
Rodrigo Duterte ,
[1] who they see as a necessary
strongman .
[2]
[3]
[4] The term was popularized during the
2016 presidential elections and has since been used to refer to the most "diehard" among Duterte's loyalists.
[5] The term is also commonly used by his opposition to refer to people who they allege to be engaging in internet trolling and disruptive behaviour online to defend Duterte.
[6]
Its initialism, DDS, was taken directly from the
Davao Death Squad —an alleged
vigilante group that had existed in
Davao City during Duterte's term as
mayor .
[7]
Ideology
As their self-appellation suggests, the DDS are identified by their
unwavering loyalty to Duterte and his successor,
Bongbong Marcos , rather than alignment to any particular political-economic ideology.
[8] The DDS mirror Duterte's policy stances and
shifts , even when such shifts contradict his self-identification as a socialist and membership in a
democratic socialist party,
[a]
PDP–Laban .
[12]
[18]
[19] Accordingly, observers have described the DDS as a
right-wing populist or even
far-right phenomenon the existence of which preserves the status quo .
[2]
[11]
[20]
[21] Such an assertion has been demonstrated by the expansion in recent years of the
historical and
religiously informed
cultural hostility toward
left-wing politics in the country as the Philippines has been described as the most
right-wing country in the world,
[9]
[22] which had been previously reserved for the
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) but which had during Duterte's presidency begun to include
national-democratic ,
social-liberal and even
centrist organizations such as the
Makabayan ,
Akbayan and
Liberal parties,
[23] respectively.
In common with Duterte's original support base outside
Manila ,
[24] the DDS had been enthusiastic about the subsequently derailed
transition to a federal form of government through
constitutional reform .
[25] Some within the DDS, disillusioned by both the
social doctrines of the Catholic Church and the
sanctimoniousness of the
professional–managerial class (PMC), may have also stood behind left-leaning causes such as the
redefinition of
civil marriage ,
[26] which Duterte had also supported but has since backtracked on.
[27] The DDS have also mirrored calls made by some core supporters for the installation of a
revolutionary government with Duterte as
leader .
[2]
[28] Such calls, however, have been motivated less by a willingness to pursue systemic transformation than by a desire for
greater participation in the
status quo .
[2]
Behavior
The DDS are distinguished by their uninhibited use of rabid and
vitriolic speech ,
[8]
[29] which mirrors Duterte's own.
[30]
[31]
[32] They respond to the slightest criticism of Duterte with accusations of
bias ,
shilling ,
[b]
wokescolding , CPP membership or sympathizing with the
New People's Army (NPA), notwithstanding Duterte's own tactical dealings with the
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) during his mayorship of Davao.
[33]
[34] The DDS usually engage in online bullying and harassment against all activists, as well as the
Otso Diretso
electoral alliance ,
Vice President
Leni Robredo , and even fellow Dutertists suspected of disloyalty,
[4]
[35]
[36] often by issuing threats or
tagging them
implicitly for
punishment .
[1]
[8]
[37]
Dilawan
[c] and
pulahan
[40] are two of the
slurs most frequently employed to shut down or
gaslight those marked for harassment.
[8]
[41]
[42] The DDS, despite Duterte's claims to being a socialist,
[9]
[19] have also participated in amplified smear campaigns directed against organizers of and contributors to
COVID-19
mutual-aid efforts.
[43]
[44] It is for these reasons that the DDS are collectively considered even by otherwise sympathetic analysts as a successful
hate group .
[45]
Long before the DDS' ascent to national prominence,
[46]
[47] however, certain PMC actors themselves had allegedly orchestrated smear campaigns, known locally as "black propaganda", through
SMS and other means against disfavored politicians and unapproved-of election candidates.
[48]
[49] Such derision has been described as a desire on the part of members of the PMC to "want to humiliate their adversaries by attributing to them a desperate lack of intelligence, empathy, and virtue".
[50]
Organizational representation
Several organizations and social-media communities bear the DDS initialism as a way of signifying unapologetic allegiance to Duterte.
[51] Some of these are the
Duterte Youth , Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Sanduguan (PDDS) and Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP).
[52]
[53] These organizations claim to represent sectors of Philippine society
marginalized by those who had taken power through the
first EDSA Revolution and betrayed by those behind the
second .
[10]
[11]
[12]
Global context
The DDS is part of an ascendant
global far right;
[54] indeed, members find affinity with
right-wing populist movements across the globe and their respective leaders.
[13]
[21] In the academic and popular discourse, parallels had been drawn between the DDS and other strongman populist movements such as
Erdoğanism in
Turkey , Bolsonarism in
Brazil and
Trumpism in the
United States ,
[23]
[45] among many others,
[55] notwithstanding the uniqueness of the
conditions that give rise to and, in turn, motivate each of them.
[56] For instance, it has been demonstrated that popular support for Duterte has been driven to a significant extent by
expatriate workers resentful of having to support themselves and their families from abroad,
[54] a motivating factor only partially shared by
workers in
core countries . Also,
Filipino culture is more susceptible to strongmen, as in the ancient Philippines, tribal leaders needed a cult-like following to maintain power. In addition, far-right beliefs are prominent in Filipino culture.
[54]
See also
Notes
^ National democrats,
[9] along with others who are placed to the left of social liberals on the political spectrum,
[2]
[10] themselves refute Duterte's self-proclaimed socialist credentials given his inability, due to structural constraints,
[10]
[11] to concretely and seriously tackle the
economic aspects of liberalism.
[12]
[13] Such constraints have had a similar dampening effect on the actions of other socialist leaders such as
François Mitterrand and
Evo Morales .
[14]
[15]
[16] Significantly, however, and unlike his predecessors, Duterte is the first Philippine president to have had "no reservations" in openly declaring his ostensible socialism while operating within a hostile political-economic environment,
[9] drawing comparisons to
Bernie Sanders ' renormalization of the previously
taboo term socialism in
US political discourse.
[17]
^ Shills are referred to as bayaran (literally "paid") in the
national language which, to some extent, may also refer to prostitutes.
^ Dilawan loosely translates as "Yellow-supporter" in the
national language , in reference to the color employed by protesters in the
People Power Revolution . This usage, however, is a misnomer given how Duterte's own party had participated in the protests and was indeed co-founded by none other than Corazón Aquino's
husband .
[38] In addition,
Sara Duterte , Duterte's daughter, recounts how her father had helped sear the significance of EDSA I into her mind.
[39]
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