Duterte butts heads with the military

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has had the limits of his executive power exposed after a botched attempt to imprison his chief opposition critic.

Emily Hohler
By
published
in Features

913-duterte-634

Duterte: testing the limits of his power
(Image credit: 2017 Getty Images)

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has "had the limits of his executive power exposed" after a "botched attempt" to imprison his chief opposition critic, Senator Antonio Trillanes, says Jason Castaneda in Asia Times. Duterte ordered his arrest, without a warrant, after voiding a presidential amnesty granted to him in 2010 for leading two attempted military coups against the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The move prompted a "public backlash" and mounting speculation of opposition plans to oust him. On Tuesday, during a TV interview, Duterte challenged the military which has denied any plot to get rid of him.

Trillanes, a former navy officer, has "long been a thorn" in Duterte's side, says The Economist. He has accused the president of "hiding unexplained wealth" and repeatedly condemned his war on drugs that has left thousands dead. This episode is merely the latest evidence of Duterte's desire to tighten his grip and silence his opponents, says Felipe Villamor in The New York Times. Another senator, Leila de Lima, has been in jail since last year, having been arrested on what she says are "trumped up charges" after also criticising his drugs war.

Meanwhile, vice-president Leni Robredo who belongs to a different party to Duterte says the president's actions are a "tactic" to "divert public attention" from the country's economic woes, says Joseph Hincks in Time. And no wonder, says Richard Heydarian in Forbes. Inflation is 6.4% and the currency at its weakest in 13 years. The urban poor, who are suffering most, comprise more than half the electorate and may decide the administration's fate in the 2019 mid-term elections. Given the risks, Duterte is seeking advice from Arroyo, who recently became Speaker of Congress. The former president, an economist, is hugely unpopular, but brings "much-needed experience and technocratic acumen" to the game.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Emily Hohler
Emily Hohler
Politics editor

Emily has worked as a journalist for more than thirty years and was formerly Assistant Editor of MoneyWeek, which she helped launch in 2000. Prior to this, she was Deputy Features Editor of The Times and a Commissioning Editor for The Independent on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph. She has written for most of the national newspapers including The Times, the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Evening Standard and The Daily Mail, She interviewed celebrities weekly for The Sunday Telegraph and wrote a regular column for The Evening Standard. As Political Editor of MoneyWeek, Emily has covered subjects from Brexit to the Gaza war.

Aside from her writing, Emily trained as Nutritional Therapist following her son's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes in 2011 and now works as a practitioner for Nature Doc, offering one-to-one consultations and running workshops in Oxfordshire.

Latest