The DDS phenomenon abroad

For the first five months of this year, I stayed in Europe for study and work. I saw, as well as heard confirmatory accounts, that a big majority of our countrymen who are living and working in the old continent are Die-hard Duterte Supporters (DDS). Those in the know affirm that the same holds true for Filipino communities in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and most especially in many countries in the Middle East.

It’s no surprise then that before proceeding to The Hague, Netherlands, where she frequently visits her father, Vice President Sara Duterte makes side trips to various foreign cities, where she speaks in meet-and-greet gatherings to rally her family’s loyal supporters. Just early this week, VP Sara attended such an event in London where she spoke before a relatively big DDS crowd.

At first, it was very perplexing to me. Filipinos in Europe are reaping immense dividends from the democratic societies that have given them shelter in a faraway continent. They’re enjoying the kind of governance that elevates human rights on a pedestal. But back home, why do they rabidly support the most fascist and the most murderous leader the Philippines has ever produced? What explains the extreme dissonance?

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I have talked to quite a few DDS expatriates (including those based outside Europe), and what I’ve heard from them matches what other friends have gathered from DDS personalities in their circles. There are at least three oft-repeated reasons overseas Filipinos mention to explain their support for former President Rodrigo Duterte and members of his family. First, our overseas kababayans cite the fact that they felt safe when they came home during the Duterte administration because drug addicts and other criminals were nowhere in sight. Second, Filipino expatriates credit Duterte with having extended the validity of our passports and driver’s licenses, from five and three years respectively, to a uniform 10 years. Third, Filipinos abroad fondly reminisce that they felt genuine care and concern during the times that Duterte communed with them in meet-and-greet gatherings abroad (outside Europe).

The common theme in this sampling of reasons is the element of personal experience. Our DDS kababayans personally felt the benefits of Duterte’s reign as president. They personally experienced improvements in concerns that directly affected them, and the “eradication” of problems that have long bedeviled them. Chances are, these are the same reasons that have made many of our fellow Filipinos living in our country become ardent DDS supporters.

In contrast, those who are fiercely anti-Duterte cite the massive human rights violations he committed against the poor, his support for China, which has invaded and occupied our exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and the pervasive corruption during his reign, including those involving VP Sara.

To our DDS kababayans abroad, however, the human rights violations and the Chinese occupation of our EEZ are issues that do not directly affect them so there is little personal resonance. Chances are, they don’t have families who were killed during Duterte’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs, and they don’t belong to fishermen families severely affected by China’s illegal seizure of our fishing grounds. With regard to corruption, from the DDS point of view, every president has been embroiled with charges of corruption.

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The differences between the DDS and the anti-DDS are night and day. The DDS look at the personal while the anti-DDS point to impersonal principles. The DDS look at the micro view while the anti-DDS look at the macro view. The DDS sense the emotional, while the anti-DDS perceive the rational. In the world we live in, night and day do not cancel each other out. They each present half of the picture of our world, and if they are both taken together, they provide a complete view of our reality as a people. All along, the DDS and the anti-DDS groups have been speaking not opposite but complementary views of our country.

This is probably the reason why no matter how shrill the anti-DDS are in pointing out the irrationality, the lack of principles, and the negative macro impact for the country of the actions of the previous administration, it will not make a dent on the god-worship that the DDS bestow on the Dutertes. The anti-DDS forces fail to address the personal, the micro view, and the emotional concerns of the DDS.

Until the anti-DDS forces acknowledge and address the concerns of the DDS, they will have little chance of getting converts from the other side, and VP Sara will continue to have a very solid base of supporters.

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Anti-DDS leaders who aspire for the presidency must fine-tune their interaction with people, expand their commitments to address the personal challenges faced by the masses, and calibrate their actions by giving solutions to DDS concerns, if they will have any fighting chance against VP Sara in 2028.

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