Philippine General (Presidential, Congress and Local) Elections - May 9, 2016

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

My family and I are very, very scared. The appeal of Duterte is baffling to us, and Marcos, Jr. is even more baffling, though that might be because my father served in the military during the last years of the Marcos regime, so we might be a little biased.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Well, Duterte is a pretty ridiculous kind of awful (and the Philippine system of giving the recipient of even a small plurality the total win is also ridiculous and awful), but at least this country has a recent history of removing the President when he gets too big for his britches. EDSA IV, anyone?

I am willing to bet that if Duterte wins we get an EDSA IV within four years. The sad part is that if EDSA IV or any other event occurs that removes him from office, we probably get President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., which is frankly far worse.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Did crime get a lot worse in the Philippines last few years or did income distribution get a lot worse?  The economic situation seems fairly positive under Aquino.  Why would Duterte surge like this?

I think it's both. Crime's always been at the forefront but I would imagine the idea that Duterte somehow stopped Cebu's reputation of being a huge danger zone for the past few decades is probably seen as progress by a lot of people. Combine that with the fact that that his region has been growing economically at a relatively faster pace probably gave a lot of people a belief that Duterte would allow for economic opportunities for all social classes as a lot of the economic growth has benefited wealthier parts of Philippine society. Lastly, there's always been some in Philippine society who believe that the country requires "discipline" and was left behind by other East Asian countries due to a lack of said discipline (as you can imagine many of these people were rather equivocal toward Marcos's legacy as well).

On the other hand, Rep. Manny Pacquiao wins a senate seat

And I continue to weep.

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Did crime get a lot worse in the Philippines last few years or did income distribution get a lot worse?  The economic situation seems fairly positive under Aquino.  Why would Duterte surge like this?

I think it's both. Crime's always been at the forefront but I would imagine the idea that Duterte somehow stopped Cebu's reputation of being a huge danger zone for the past few decades is probably seen as progress by a lot of people. Combine that with the fact that that his region has been growing economically at a relatively faster pace probably gave a lot of people a belief that Duterte would allow for economic opportunities for all social classes as a lot of the economic growth has benefited wealthier parts of Philippine society. Lastly, there's always been some in Philippine society who believe that the country requires "discipline" and was left behind by other East Asian countries due to a lack of said discipline (as you can imagine many of these people were rather equivocal toward Marcos's legacy as well).

On the other hand, Rep. Manny Pacquiao wins a senate seat

And I continue to weep.

You mean Davao City not Cebu right?

Sorry, Davao. I haven't had much sleep over the past few days.