Name? Rodrigo Duterte
Westphalian identity? Filipino
Age? 76
Why is he in the news? The Philippines presidential campaign season officially began on Tuesday and not only is Duterte not running for office, he has yet to announce who he is endorsing as his successor.
Why do we care? Honestly, we live for the drama of it all: There are 1o presidential candidates and 9 vice-presidential candidates. The presidential candidates include the former spokesperson for Duterte, a former movie star, a champion boxer and the combination of the son of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos with Duterte’s daughter as vice president.
Why should you care? Aside from the obvious fun of Filipino elections, this election sets the Philippines’ foreign policy trajectory for the next 6 years, defining whether the country will maintain Duterte’s close ties with Beijing or revert back to a closer relationship with Washington. You should care 5/10.
Who else cares? Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he prepares to meet with President Duterte later this month amid concerns over China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Not only does Kishida need an anti-China Filipino President as a “strategic point for security,” in the South China Sea, but also as a reliable partner in ‘2 plus 2’ talks as Japan pushes it’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy.”
Any further comments? Duterte cannot endorse his daughter for VP without also endorsing her running mate, ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, for president. A difficult pairing given Duterte’s distaste for the association with Marcos Sr. and that both families want to maintain their own power in the country rather than share it (which is what they would do if Marcos is president and Duterte is VP). As much as he may dislike the former dictator’s son, Duterte and Bongbong have similar authoritarian tendencies—emphasising that if Bongbong were to win, Duterte’s own win (and authoritative presidency) was not simply a one time thing in the Philippines post-Marcos political history.
