Duterte arrest raises stakes in clash for control of Philippines

Three years ago, the most powerful political families in the Philippines joined hands to secure the nation’s biggest election victory in four decades. Now they are locked in a feud that threatens to derail one of Asia’s economic growth stars.

In dramatic events on Tuesday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government arrested and deported his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte to face the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The move came just over a month after the impeachment of his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, by allies of Marcos. A Senate trial, which would determine whether she gets removed from office, is scheduled to begin in July.

The push by Marcos to sideline his main political opponents marks a gamble that could easily backfire, starting with legislative elections in May that will determine how much he can accomplish in the final three years of his term. The Dutertes still hold clout, with Sara a top candidate in polls to win the next presidential vote in 2028....

the estimates of those killed are vague: The latest number is 30 thousand in most of the recent MSM news reports, but Bloomberg via Gulf News said it was 6000, which is probably a more accurate figure. These were often in raids not targeted killings.

the reason for the numbers being inaccurate is that if a body was found, you didn't know if he was killed by a rival drug seller, by locals who wanted revenge for their family members being killed or destroyed by drugs, a robbery by the usual thugs, a political hit against one's political rival, a revenge murder against a businessman or low grade politician who harmed your, a hit by a businessman or low grade politician against activists or reporters who were blowing the whistle on their corruption, a robber home invasion killing the ones they are robbing, a murder in an amok type attack by someone high on shabu, or maybe the death of one of these robbers being killed by the home owner or store keeper who shot them first, or by hit squads by rogue cops, or in a shoot out with the police.

Only those last two could be blamed on Duterte.

I can tell the stories behind each of these types of murders or overdose deaths that happened in our area.

few of these murders (except by the hit squads) can be blamed on Duterte, because this was business as usual before he took over, and the bad news is that the crime rate against ordinary folks is now going up again.

it was a previous president, Arroyo, who almost let China explore (read take over) the natural gas reserves in the west Philippine Sea, after they bribed her in a telecom deal.

It was a previous president, PNoy Aquino, who obeyed Obama and let them dig up the sea bed to make artificial islands instead of stopping them. Obama insisted we take them to court: we won, but China ignored the international court and without US help could not stop China.

China runs the economy here, and offered a lot of help during Duterte’s time. Yes, he stopped the US troops training here, but later changed his mind on that. And China helped in many way to fund drug rehab centers.

The deep state used Omidyar funding to start a local English speaking paper to oppose him. This was the same Omidyar who helped destablize the Ukraine media. The funds were illegal but the US MSM pretended poor Resa, who even the local liberal press here despised, win a nobel prize saying she was in trouble for her political opposition, not because she used foreign money investments that was illegal under the law.

it makes me wonder how much this arrest has to do with the deep state pressuring Marcos to destroy Duterte. We need a DOGE type investigation of funding from the USAID and state department funding NGOs that were aimed to destroy him.

Duterte was popular because it became safe to walk the streets and take public transportation.

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