Dutertes of the world | as easy as ABC

What the world has been coming to is the production of leaders who are non-traditional. It’s like politics has taken a cue from the business world, producing disruptions of its own. Commercially, creative individuals with meager capital have produced disruptions in business that have changed the way the game is played. Politics, buoyed by a sentiment against traditions that don’t help has produced, and I dare say will continue to produce, the “Dutertes” of the world.

If many did not know Mr. Joko Widodo before, he certainly made himself known internationally by executing two Australians charged with drug peddling in Indonesia. Despite earnest pleas from Australia, which by the way is Indonesia’s second largest foreign benefactor, Mr. Widodo stood firm in taking a tough stand against drugs. He showed some humanity though by not proceeding with the execution of our very own Mary Jane Veloso when her Filipina recruiter, bothered by conscience, surfaced to say that the hapless Mary Jane was unaware of her luggage contents. Australia reportedly decreased its aid to Indonesia by 40 percent following the execution, to which he sensibly said: “It’s Australia’s right. Should we cry for that?”

Mr. Widodo, previously a town mayor in Indonesia, had a policy of “national interest first” that turned into international cooperation to further “national interest”. This helped make Indonesia more attractive to foreign investors. Indonesia’s economic prospects remain very strong and clearly not materially impacted by reduction of foreign aid. The strongest criticism against him is that progress is slow, but his strongest attribute is that he is still regarded as an honest man.

When Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, himself a non-traditional, tried to change the Soviet Union by espousing glasnost (political openness) but the Union disintegrated. The emasculation of Russia removed it from superpower status, to say the least. With the economy in shambles and with life becoming difficult for the Russian people, Putin was credited for bringing unprecedented prosperity back to Russia as disposable income of families doubled five years after he took the helm. That he is a lawyer by profession is incidental. It is his helpful economic policies, his bravado and his uncompromising foreign policy (against the West) that polished Russia’s brand.

However, Russia today suffers from international sanctions, and the leadership suffers from transparency issues. Russia’s economy today is shrinking, and a blunt comment to it is that he is responsible for all this current mess. But the other candid comment is that he brought economic progress to Russia in the first place. Thus while people did not elect him because the communist political system is different, he still enjoys vast support and holds hero status to most Russians.

If the US electorate takes inspiration from the Philippine election results (and I think they do), Donald Trump will be US president, but he will be the most non-traditional US president ever. Mr. Trump is not beholden to anyone as he said he is not accepting campaign donations. Not the same at all, but Mr. Rodrigo Duterte on the other hand made a gesture – which is a first – to return excess campaign donations. With almost no similarity between Mr. Trump and Mr. Duterte, except for being non-traditional, the two displayed a common characteristic about changing their minds or pronouncement on critical issues. Among Mr. Trump’s many flip-flops was when he said he would ban Muslims from entering the US, then softened to “I am not anti-Muslim, but anti- terrorism”. Mr. Duterte during campaign expressed that Martial Law was among his possible approaches but clarified after winning that he would declare Martial Law “against bad people”. While mind-changing is not impressive, what has appealed to the public in respect of these two individuals is their genuineness. Not the politically correct statements, but the candidness or guarantee that they are saying what they are thinking, and not necessarily those that people want to hear.

Our non-traditional presumptive president is wise and secure enough to take the direction of maintaining what works in the past administration, and he would be wise to remember what did not work.

First, people will not appreciate progress if they feel miserable. Being a free man but imprisoned in one’s car for hours due to traffic is a bit of jail time every day. The hugely inefficient and sorely insufficient public transport and infrastructure make each day a survival of the fittest for commuters.

Second, it is okay to be a bully or be hard-headed, but not lacking in empathy. The international community and our citizens still remember the coldness and lack of offer of compensation for the families of the eight Hong Kong tourists who died at a bungled rescue attempt at Rizal Park; the no-apology position over the shooting of the Taiwanese by a laughing Philippine coast guard while the former was on board a fishing vessel breaching Philippine waters; and choosing to be present at an auto manufacturer’s event over commiserating with the families of the courageous SAF 44 while their dead bodies were being unloaded at the Villamor Air Base. It’s not all about the fiscal, it is also about the emotional.

The common lesson from all successful political disruptors is that unifying the people behind them is the prerequisite. One lesson from the most successful, non-traditional and benign dictator, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, is that progress of a country depends much on the leader but more on its people. Things work by a combination of a non-traditional leader and a cooperative non-traditional people. Nowadays, that means change. To comply rather than elude. To contribute and not merely expect. To root for the country instead of one’s self. To be a non-traditional Filipino, president or not.