Rodrigo Duterte, Mayor of Davao City

Below is an interview with the mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte. It deals with the fact that in Davao, known criminals tend to turn up dead in the streets, shot down by a gang of dark-clothed men on motorcycles known as the Davao Death Squad. No one has ever been convicted for these killings. I will not comment on the interview, but I think you should really read it. It sent shivers down my spine, in any case...

Some say there have been cases of mistaken identity in these killings?

If they have the facts, why don’t they file a case in court or come to me and show to me? Why can’t they do that?

I remember the case of (human-rights worker Rashid) Manahan. He had received death threats in Cotabato. When he was killed in my city, they say I ordered the killing. Putang ina! Why would I kill a poor guy who was just working for an NGO? If you want, I’ll line up all the human-rights commissioners and kill them all.

They say you don’t touch the big fish.

Puta… I don’t hit the big fish? Hesusmaryosep! I know I cannot get (industrialist Jesus) Ayala and (banana magnate Antonio) Floirendo because they don’t use drugs!

How safe is Davao City?

Very safe, I would say, except for the terrorists. But the common crimes like snatching… That’s petty. I cannot kill a human being just because he stole small items. That’s too expensive a payment. I deal with kidnappers, especially people who kill, or people who rape and kill.

They make your blood boil.

I’m like that. It’s my human nature. And you know human nature is part of your character. That’s my persona.

What has changed about you since you first ran for mayor,
since you were a prosecutor?

I hate to mention this because I’m not trying to make a big issue out of it. I grew up with politics because my father was governor. So practically I have a good training about how to deal with problems of people.

My hatred of criminals – that’s what changed Davao. If I have not improved the lot of the poor folk there at Boulevard, it’s simply because of the economy. But what actually, to me, made the difference is at least the criminals here are afraid of the law. Here, if you are a police officer and you steal from a civilian, putang ina, I’m going to kill you. God, I will! I’ll M16 you in public.

You know, governance or whatever in public office — it’s all about sense and sensibility. That is all that is needed. I am proud that I walk the extra mile to see to it that this city is peaceful.

We’d like to make this clear: Each time you say you’d kill somebody….

That is all talk! (Laughs.)

But isn’t that a form of taking the law into your own hands?

No, it’s a form of a threat, instilling fear in the minds of criminals. So, if you are a journalist, if you are an ordinary citizen, why should you be afraid? Unless you believe your mayor is a candidate for a mental asylum. (Laughs.) Why would you be afraid each time I say, “You criminals are sons of bitches! I’m going to kill all of you!”? If you’re afraid, then you must be a criminal.

Doesn’t that put you in danger of being implicated if
something happens to these people after you say those things?

You know, guilt is personal. Remember that it’s a principle of criminal law. Guilt is personal. There is no guilt by association just because I’m the mayor talking here nonsense.

Each time I threaten them, there’s always a qualification: “You terrorists, putang ina, I’m going to kill you!” As you see, they end up dead. (Laughs.)

What happens if you’re no longer mayor? The fear by the criminals could be of you, not the law. What happens if you’re no longer there and the person who replaces you is not as strong as —

Putang ina, even if I’m asleep, wake me up and I’ll deal with it. (Laughs.) I’m never afraid of criminals, even when I was not yet a mayor. When I was a prosecutor, I kicked a man in the chest inside the court room.

Were you cited in contempt?

Of course! (Laughs.) I was a prosecutor and I was in jail. (Laughs.)

Why can’t you just prosecute these criminals, bring them to justice?

Some of them are dead. The others, we’re still going to kill them.

Were you frustrated with the legal system?

I began as a prosecutor, right? So take it from me. When I was a prosecutor for 10 years, this thing called guilt – that’s always an 80-20 proposition and all you have to do is to create doubt. And because of stringent regulations about right to counsel, information, due process and everything – these are so limited. What can you get from a terrorist during 36 hours of detention? Let’s be frank. What can you get?

The judicial process is too complicated?

It’s not just that. It’s the law itself. Because government is supposed to be powerful it owns everything but there’s a barrier and that barrier is the Bill of Rights. It protects the citizens from abusive excesses, inordinate exercise of power. The problem is, they abuse it, so the criminals are in and out of prison. That’s what I hate about it.

Let’s put it this way. I am not about ready to admit any particular killing here. (Laughs.) I can go to prison. What I’m trying to say is that I’m trying hard to make everybody realize, both the civilians and criminals, that if you commit a serious crime, you’ll just have to pay for it. Maybe inside the prison or maybe lose your funds or lose your life.

How do you know that your threats against criminals are working?

Look around. Compare it to other places. How could you not see it? Go around the city…

Have you given up on due process?

No, I should not waive anything there in the Bill of Rights. I think that we should observe it strictly. But if you do not leave room for me to exercise my discretion of human rights or if you do not give me that space, if you box me in one corner, you do not leave me an elbow room to give you, to afford you that right, in the end, you will lose everything… maybe including your life.

But what about the children? Many of those killed were minors.

(Stammers.) That’s a collateral… social problem. It becomes a collater… collateral itself. Its not a question of crime anymore. That’s what makes things difficult. Well, that is another problem. I cannot answer that. (davaotoday.com)

Thank God for Atheists

Last Friday, the electricity suddenly went off in the office of Kapwa, so the entire staff gathered in the kitchen to... convert me to christianity. I mean, seriously. I have been with Kapwa for some 4 months now. In the beginning, when people asked me what religion I practice, I kinda circumvented the question by saying that I was raised as a christian, without further specifying whether I also am a christian.

So I thought that, after 4 months, it would be ok to confide that I really am an atheist ("walay Ginoo"). My mistake... Most people can simply not imagine that one can live without religion. It is not that people do not respect you when you're an atheist, they simply cannot believe it. It is beyond them.

- How can you explain everything that existst on Earth?

- Evolution.

- But who created evolution? Haha! It must have been God!

Sigh... Think it's time for a good old secular revolution here. Whatever those bloody missionaries did some centuries ago, they surely did it thoroughly. But then again, in the end people are really just concerned. Nilo, our project coordinator, said he felt sorry for me that I will be clad with horns and a tail in hell while he is flying among the spirits in heaven. "Kalooy ka"... After Nilo had given it his best to convince me, he turned to his colleagues and said in a voice of disbelief: "He is not convinced...". Then, as by divine providence, the lights suddenly turned on again. Thank God!

Asa ka, Gloria?

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the 14th President of the Philippines, has just survived a 4th impeachment bid filed against her in 4 years time. The law only allows for one impeachment bid per year, so it seems like she's on for a game of 'collect all 6" before her term ends in 2010. IF it ends in 2010...

The impeachment bid was junked after only three days of hearings in the House of Representatives. According to Gloria's allies in the House, the impeachment case contained insufficient proof to pursue the charges made against her. It was the usual stuff: corruption, fraud, bribery...


One would think, though, that after 4 impeachment bids in just as many years and widespread opposition to her presidency by the people, Gloria would get the message by now. It cannot be much fun to be one of the most hated presidents in the history of the Philippines (there is some tough competition there, too); but many suspect that Gloria is clinging on to her position out of fear for the many lawsuits that hang above her head. As long as she is president, she is more or less untouchable for criminal lawsuits; if she steps down or is ousted, she will most likely go straight to court and face the many charges of bribery, fraud and corruption pending against her. One journalist said that Gloria's position is like holding the tail of a tiger: if you let go, it will bite you... On the other hand, her predecessor, president Estrada, was also convicted for plundering the nation, but was gracefully pardoned by, you'll never guess, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Estrada was ousted by the Second People's Power Revolution after an impeachment bid against him had been aborted in the Senate... No harm done, though, you can often see him in game shows on television and he is supposedly preparing himself to run for president again in 2010.

"Only in the Philippines", people would sometimes say. It is not so much a cry of protest, it is rather like saying "Oh well, what can you do". It is a sad thing, for sure, that people revolt against a corrupt president only to find out that their new one is even worse. On the other hand, I think Gloria is a symptom and not a cause of the problems in the Philippines...

Floating Thoughts...

During my visit to Singapore I visited a nice visual arts exhibition in the old court house. One piece, in particular, left me speechless for a while. It was an installation of a book floating in an aquarium. I think it is really beautiful...

In case you are wondering, the book is Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent".

Some Pictures from Little India, Singapore

Thank God It's Free!

All Saints' Day

On November 1, I went to the cemetary in Bansalan. I was told that people in the Philippines have a slightly different way of paying hommage to the dead than we in the West... and they sure do.

I arrived on the cemetary on my own, which was an attraction in its own right. Never have I had so many pairs of eyes stare at me. It's funny, in a way, since I was no less amazed by what I saw on the cemetary. I talked to some people who were so kind to guide me around.

There were lots of people on the cemetary and I coulnd't see any tombs at first because of all the shops in front of them. Imagine people selling not only candles and flowers, but also food, drinks, beer, you name it. For one day in the year, Filipinos 'live' with the dead. The whole family gathers around the tombs, put up a tent or build a roof over the grave and sleep overnight on the cemetary. There is also a class distinction in the afterlife, apparently, because wealthy families build a whole house around the tomb. Some graves have a shower and toilet and I even saw one grave that had a karaoke machine in it... Incroyable!


In Bansalan, the cemetary road divides the rich families from the poor. On the right side are the simple tombs, on the left some tombs are bigger than many people's houses. In this section, I saw one guy casually roasting a pig.


I think you could say that All Saints' Day is really a social occasion and the dead are very much present. I guess many of us in the West are pretty much convinced that once you're dead, you're really gone. All Souls' Day, therefore, is perhaps more about memories than about actually 'visiting' the dead. In the Philippines, there is a deep sense that the 'other world' is just around the corner... It is also more a happy than a sad occasion. It's somehow nice how the dead bring the living together.

Have a look at Maya's blog for a different story about this 'pista minatay'.

How One Letter Can Make a World of Difference...

Managa Water Project

Travelling from centro Managa towards the uplands of Balutakay you will see a chain of potable water systems scattered at irregular distances along the main road. You’ll see people carrying gallons to and fro, children bathing in the water before going to school and women doing laundry. If you stop along the road to ask people what recent changes in Managa have positively affected their lives, few would hesitate to mention the potable water system that provides clean water for every purok.

Before the water system was installed, farmers used to fetch water from the river or from the irrigation dam in lower Managa. Women would carry laundry to the riverbank and spend a large part of the day near the water. People who lived close to the Poblacion would ride habal-habal to the market to buy bottles of mineral water. It was a tiresome chore to collect relatively small amounts of water for daily use.

The water system in Managa has a long and somewhat troubled history. Some of the components of the system were installed during the Southern Mindanao Agricultural Program (SMAP) from the Department of Agriculture (DA). The original system, however, did not function for very long. Soon after it had been completed, people at the lower end of the water supply noticed that the water pressure gradually decreased until some reservoirs eventually ran dry… There were a number of reasons for this. The pipes that led from the source down to the water reservoirs had to pass along the many vegetable gardens of upland farmers. Some of those farmers were tempted to insert injections into the pipes to spray their vegetable gardens, reducing the water supply for people further down the line… The pipes were also vulnerable to soil movements and farming activities, and a lack of maintenance eventually left Managa with a leaking water system.

The story of the SMAP water project illustrates how strongly the lives of the people in Managa are connected through a shared need for potable water. Water is a precious resource, but the strong need for water divided the community. The water system intended to connect the communities to a common source, but individual usage of the system disconnected some people from water supply and destabilized the system. There was no real policy governing the water use and the issue was left unresolved. In a more general way, the SMAP project also showed the profound impact of upland life for people downhill…

The SMAP project was a disappointing experience for many, but fortunately the story does not end here. The community kept its dream of a potable water system alive and when Kapwa started working in Bansalan, its project officers started to explore the possibility of breathing new life into the project. From the onset, however, it was evident that participation of the entire community would be vital for the success of the project. The current water system is the result of joint efforts of the different stakeholders in the area. Kapwa assisted the tribal council in gathering the necessary documents and permits for the project through the National Council of Indigenous Peoples. The local government units provided budget for the purchasing of pipes and equipment; Kapwa contributed both financial and logistic support for the implementation of the project. The community, in turn, provided the labour on the ground. Some components of the SMAP project were reused in the new design and the system was extended to reach more households.

Kapwa project officer Samuel Toraya remembers that the people from Managa were somewhat sceptical at first:

“The people from Managa could not believe at first that the water system was really going to be provided. They had had some negative experiences with broken promises and unfinished projects in the past and some feared that this too might turn out to be a disappointment. Kapwa was new in the area and we were still building trust with the communities. We spent a long time organising the community to collectively shoulder this project and people sometimes felt things were moving too slowly. Kapwa consciously chose not to supply materials before the communities had finished preparatory work on the ground. This strategy was meant to emphasize the community’s responsibility throughout the entire project, but it also put pressure on the relationship and sometimes led to conflict. Given the community’s past experiences, people were anxious about Kapwa fulfilling its commitment. This initial distrust gradually absolved in the course of the construction. The community would prepare the channels for the pipes, and for every distance they covered, Kapwa would supply the matching distance of pipelines. Slowly but surely the pipes connected the different puroks to the source and people grew confident that their dream would finally be realized.”

It was a long process. All in all, the construction took about one full year. Although the Barangay tribal Council initiated the project, people from the entire community contributed to its completion. The practical implementation of the project almost entirely depended on the labour provided by the people who would later benefit from the water system. In the course of the project the community initiated the Managa Community Waterworks and Sanitation Association (MCWSA) to shoulder the implementation, monitoring and maintenance of the system. The association consolidated the collaboration between the tribal and migrant communities who both have representatives in the association.

Ronilo Bajenting, project coordinator of Kapwa, remembers that the construction of the water system was a very stressful period for both Kapwa and the Managa communities. The people were anxious to complete the water system, but Kapwa did not want to jeopardize the process of social preparation and community participation in favour of a quick installation of the system. In order for the people to truly own the project, they would have to experience their vital role in making the project possible. However, Kapwa and the community would sometimes also be at loggerheads about parts of the implementation:

‘I remember that one time we hiked up to the source to have a look at the intake box that had just been constructed. Mam Alma was also there and the community was a little nervous about us going up to inspect the work. When we arrived at the intake box, we saw why… the original design of the intake box allowed for only two outlets, but we could see three! The community had decided on its own to install an extra outlet to allow for more pipes to be attached. We at Kapwa, however, were concerned that this might get them into trouble because the permit from DENR stated that there would be only two outlets. We feared this violation of the permit might jeopardize future projects. Luckily, we managed to get the permission for the third outlet…

However tiring the process was, the eventual completion of the water system was a dream come true for the people of Managa. The system connects households to potable water from upper Balutakay as far down as centro Managa. In the words of BTC member Rogelio Oguit:

“The people of Managa have been dreaming of this water system for so long. With the help of Kapwa, we have been able to realize our dream.”

Berna Malang, who lives across one of the water taps, stresses the fact that the project succeeded in reaching across the different communities:

“The beauty of the project is that it benefits everyone, not just the Bagobo-Tagabawa. Everyone can use the water.’

The water system has triggered many changes. A project of this scope naturally has a great impact on the community. Some of the changes are immediately visible. Visiting Managa, you will see how the water system has become a central part of people’s lives. There is always a lively activity near the taps with people bathing, doing laundry or collecting water. The water system has made life easier for people who used to travel long distances to access water. Yet, other changes are more subtle. The collective experience of building the water system has started to connect the community around a common concern and has raised the awareness of the shared responsibility of the community to keep the project alive…