Hubris might bring down Du30

During his campaign for the presidency, then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that if elected, he would mobilize soldiers and policemen in the fight against illegal drugs. “I promise you I will get down and dirty just to get things done. I will do it for the Filipino people,” he said. The business leaders and the residents of Davao affirmed that whatever the mayor said he would do for the city, he had done.

The promise of rolling out nationally his mailed-fist law and order policies in Davao City captivated millions of Filipinos. More than 16 million voted for him. “The Filipino people have given me the mandate to implement my reform program. I decide alone,” he declared in a TV interview after he was proclaimed president-elect.

As he promised during the campaign, he declared war against all those involved in the trade in illegal drugs immediately after he was sworn in. More than 1,600 users and dealers have been shot dead by the police, while more than 2,200 suspects are said to have been killed by vigilantes. Nearly 60,000 drug dependents have surrendered to authorities.

The Filipino people believe that President Duterte is fulfilling the promise he made to them. The latest polls conducted by Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia both give him a very good rating. He got a +64 net satisfaction rating in the SWS poll and a +83 net approval score in the Pulse Asia survey. As the survey respondents represent the entire population, the results can be said to reflect the sentiments of the Filipino people.

Mr. Duterte’s victory in the presidential race and his obtaining the people’s approval of his reform program have given him excessive pride and confidence to the point of arrogance.  The mayor of a provincial city is now head of a sovereign state. He must act the part. He must be concerned  not only with domestic issues but with foreign relations as well.

The other week, at a forum in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, he told Chinese and Filipino businessmen: “I announce my separation from the United States, both in military … but economics also.”  He also said: “I have realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will … talk to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and tell him there are three of us against the world.”

It is not the first time he has made a bold policy decision all by himself. Late in September, he made known to the Filipino community in Hanoi his intention to end the joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States. “I will serve notice to you (the United States) now, this will be the last military exercise,” he said. Early this month, in a speech apologizing to the local Jewish community for likening himself to Hitler, he said: “I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. I might, in my time; I will break up with America.”

As head of state, Mr. Duterte believes he can curse other heads of state or tell them to go to hell. Apparently, he has been overcome by hubris, a personality quality of extreme pride that usually indicates loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one’s own competence or capability. Hubris brought down the likes of Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler.

He can stay in power if he draws wisdom from Robert Greene’s book, “The 48 Laws of Power.” Law 47 says: “In victory, learn when to stop. The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. Arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for. Do not allow success to go to your head.”

“Change is coming” was Mr. Duterte’s campaign slogan. Indeed, change has come. But Greene’s Law 45 says: “Preach the need for change, but never reform too much at once. Too much innovation will lead to revolt.”

Relevant to the President’s crass demeanor, language, and dress is Law 34:  “Be royal in your own fashion: act like a king to be treated like one.  Appearing vulgar will make people disrespect you.”

Oscar P. Lagman Jr. has been a keen observer of Philippine politics since the 1950s.