It’s a strange time.
Things seem to be so bad there that many people don’t care, dead scumbags are fine with them. Previous leaders did nothing so a psychopath (or pretend psychopath?) seems like a viable solution to desperate people.
In India, the PM banned the most common denominations of paper currency due to mass counterfeiting, crazy. There would be blood in the streets if that happened here.
You sound like you have lived here (I am in Davao City) and you have gotten a feel for how they think.
Previous leaders, for decades, essentially did nothing. My wife tells me too much money was changing hands. They would get precious little relief, and due process from the injustice system, so you are right, a few dead scum bags mean nothings to them.