Imperial President

“I posited the mutability of presidential powers.”

Recently, a distinguished solon came to town expressing his perplexity (euphemism for disbelief) over the staying power of the popularity of President Duterte. Going against historical trend, it’s been a two-year reign, yet, according to the latest Social Weather Station survey, the President still maintains a net satisfactory rating of “very good.”

Nobody was surprised by the equally puzzling assessment of my esteemed schoolmate and former colleague in Congress. He was just being true to his calling as a staunch leader from the opposite side of the political spectrum. His silence would be an abdication of his role as an opposition.

To him and doubting Thomases, I may have a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon unseen in our political history.

Decades ago, I wrote a treatise about presidential leadership and the trend towards authoritarianism, citing studies and books written by political illuminati on the subject. The two-part article, which is heavy on citations for documentation, was published in a major broadsheet on June 25, 1984 amid the controversy sparked by the passage of Amendment No. 6 granting then strongman President Marcos legislative powers. As early as that time, I posited the mutability of presidential powers even if defined by the constitution and the trend towards the shift from the western liberal presidency to authoritarianism in Third World developing countries.

Leadership is situation- and problem-oriented. Under normal times, the stewardship style of American President Roosevelt could be the norm. But as described by Professor Neustadht it is a bargaining and persuading President constantly subjected to pressures from various interest groups. He has to play politics with Congress and other institutions to preserve the dominance of his political party. However, this style of leadership could be incongruous and lame to address the imperatives of contemporary challenges to government.

Against this backdrop, political theorists predicted the emergence of a strong, imperial presidency which could put to severe test Montesquieu’s theory of a tripartite co-equal branch of government and human rights sanctified by libertarians. What matters most, they opined, is delivery of what the governed need even with a shade of Machiavelianism.

For ages, man grappled with the choice between liberty and state order and personal interest versus society. It’s a chicken-and-egg riddle. Passage of time has not tempered the conundrum.

“Political theorists predicted the emergence of a strong, imperial presidency.”

An authority on leadership, J.M. Burns postulates, “By general law, life and limb must be protected, yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life…” He is obviously not a friend of human rights advocates.

As a caveat, quoting these political theorists should not be taken as an excuse for any extra judicial killing, the so-called “tokhang” or victims of the anti-“tambay” campaign. Far from it; if evidence points to a culprit, then the full force of the law should be imposed, like the slogan of this paper, which says: “Without fear. Without favor.” And as Burns continues, “… life is never wisely given to save a limb.”

Parallel to this discourse is the subject on what the governed needs from the governors. This question confronts every leader worthy of and true to his mandate.

Filipinos have had a long experience, ad nauseam, with prototype leaders of the Roosevelt kind. And they are apparently enthralled, if not fascinated, by a political outlier President Duterte, who has shown the muscle of the presidency they perceived as providing them the needed security. They see themselves, especially the hoi polloi in the mould of the character and deportment of a Visayan “Bogoy” President Duterte.

Are you surprised by his unwaning popularity? If good leadership is rated by its acceptance by the greater number of the sovereign, then the SWS survey result speaks volumes of their acceptance of the leadership style of President Duterte.

A sequel to this exposition in my next column.

Email amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com for queries about the books, publishers, date of publications quoted in the column.