The last hurrah

March 13, 2025

MANILA – There are no secrets (not for very long, anyway) in the Philippines. So much so that speculation was rife that former president Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was a prelude to seeking asylum in China to avoid being apprehended by Philippine authorities upon the request of International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). A curious plan, if that was the case, considering China has made numerous use of Interpol’s red notices to enable the arrest of Chinese citizens in other jurisdictions. Not to mention that in November 2024, during the 92nd General Assembly of Interpol held in Glasgow, among those elected to a three-year term was the Delegate for Asia, Yong Wang of China. As part of its projection as a country devoted to the international rules-based order in contrast to America, it wouldn’t have done for China to foil an Interpol warrant.

In the end, Duterte decided not to flee or publicly seek asylum. It would have dissolved his political persona. Returning home and defiance behind bars allows what remains of his political infrastructure to be deployed, and more to the point, a chance to try to sway the public.

In the battle for public opinion, two contending characterizations of public opinion are at play. The first believes that Filipinos are always for the underdog. The second believes that Filipinos worship power, and, by extension, despise the defeated. Corollary to this is that we consider rooting for the underdog as actually a sly cheering on of those who show that the powerful are really powerless. More to the point: can someone contemptuous of the weak become a suitable martyr once he faces his comeuppance? That’s what is at play in the coming days.

Now it’s a question of