PRESIDENCY OF RODRIGO DUTERTE: THE INCOHERENT STANCE ON DUTERTE’S POPULISM IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC POLICIES

Rodrigo Duterte won the Philippines’ 2016 presidential elections
thanks to a well-orchestrated campaign and his populist appeal among
Filipinos. This study centers on Duterte's brand of populism in policies.
The researcher believes that these policies have a high degree of
incoherence and inconsistency in Duterte’s brand of populism. Taken
together and along with many other policy moves under Duterte’s
administration they reveal key differences between rhetoric and action.
To fully grasp the reason behind the unconventional leadership style of
President Duterte, the study has drawn to his administration’s most
criticized policies namely: war on drugs, Philippine-China relation, and
build build build program. This study reviewed government reports and
surveys Philippines’ mainstream media from 2016 to 2020. Adopting
critical discourse analysis, this research reveals President Duterte’s
bicephalous leadership: populist in domestic policies, and pragmatic but
unpopular in foreign relations. The study also expose the fact that
despite the failure of his policies President Duterte has been able to
captivate his countrymen with his populist rhetoric
and strongman leadership style.