Dturd toady: ‘Killing isn’t forbidden’

Ridiculous butt-snuggling toady and former self-styled “human rights lawyer” Harry Roque is defending his bloodthirsty boss’s public exhortations to “kill, kill, kill” as perfectly acceptable — even after police and soldiers slaughtered nine people in a series of raids on suspected Communist sympathizers.  That’s right: sympathizers, not actual armed rebels.

Let’s be honest here: Communists and their armed elements are a real pain in the ass in the Philippines, sticking blindly to a failed ideology — or at least professing to do so while extorting “revolutionary taxes” from anyone they can — and holding the country back.  The idiot leftist sympathizers who influence gullible elements of Congress and closet-Communists in the media with their dogmatic slogans and incessant news releases should be roundly ostracized.

But that doesn’t mean the cops and military have the right to barge into their homes and shoot them to death on sight.

Roque’s lame rationalizations: “Because there’s a war with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army, killing isn’t forbidden.  Under international humanitarian law, the president’s order to ‘kill, kill, kill’ is correct. What, you want the soldiers to be killed?”

This piece of shit is lying, again.  War against armed insurgents is one thing.  Summary executions are another. Virtually no one believes that the nine people slaughtered on what is being labeled “Bloody Sunday” were putting up armed resistance. 

So while Roque defends the president’s words under a very loose interpretation of law, he neatly sidesteps the real issue: That people were illegally slaughtered.

This guy is such a shameless piece of shit.  And to think, many of the idiot leftists and pseudo-nationalists who are on the run today or are aghast at the government’s actions once lauded Roque as some sort of human rights icon back when he was such a craven opportunist telling them what they wanted to hear in regards to other atrocities and to anything involving the US military, no matter how ridiculous.

Fucking idiot drama queen.  And goddamned fools who once idolized him.

More silly Duterte drama shows VFA approval likely soon

After making an ass of himself and making the Philippines look like a nation of whores, Dturd continues to make face-saving noises about the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US — a clear indication that the agreement will be renewed sometime soon.

If he was serious about abrogating the VFA and undermining the Mutual Defense Treaty with the US, he would have done so by now. The fact that he’s been making stupid public noises about demanding more money, vaccine doses, or military equipment from the US — he’s not really sure what he wants — after twice postponing his earlier abrogation order makes it clear that he wants to approve the agreement but also that he has the mentality of a grubby old Divisoria fish hag who used to be an Olongapo bar girl.

Now, he’s grumbling about canceling the VFA if he should find proof that the US is storing nuclear weapons on Philippine soil — as if any Philippine military base has anything near the capacity to store US nukes.

But the fact that he’s grumbling about a reason to cancel the VFA for such a reason obviously shows that he’s getting ready to approve it but just needs to make a little more noise to make himself feel like he’s in control and show off for his beer buddies and hick constituents.

But that’s what you get when you elect a punk-ass spoiled brat promdi as president and mindlessly cheer for him when he puts on little displays of crude machismo while bending over for a big panda dick in his ass. And the panda seems to not even be interested in anything but taking his house and his daughters.

Dturd squirms for a way out of VFA mess

After once again making an international ass of himself and rattling his military establishment and quite a few others with reckless comments about screwing up the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, Philippine President Rodrigo “Dturd” Duterte is now looking for a way out of the hole he has dug himself.

First, he wanted to ditch the agreement when he had a snit about the US not approving a toady’s visa.  Then he wanted to hold the VFA hostage in exchange for Covid 19 vaccine doses.  Then he wanted to whore the agreement out for money.  Then for military hardware.

The loose cannon huckster now says he can’t decide whether to renew or abrogate the VFA and wants ordinary Filipinos to weigh in on the matter.  This, after making all those stupid public remarks that got the usual media pansies all excited but didn’t really amount to much because Dturd never actually made any specific demand, or even request, to the US to back up his silly theatrics.

And noticeably absent from his recent canned speech about the issue was any reference to demanding more of anything from the US.  No, the petty provincial boss said, I don’t know what to do now so I’ll leave it up to you.

It’s the curious paradox about the Philippines:  If you put something like this to an actual vote, it’s almost certain that most Filipinos would favor strengthening ties with the US and ending all this cheesy drama.  Yet, time and again, “leaders” looking for an issue to hang their hat on make reckless statements, and sometimes decisions, that jeopardize or weaken those ties and sometimes even put the nation in danger.

It all goes back to the bad old colonial days, when Filipino politicians found that they could make names for themselves by loudly demanding immediate independence from the US, while quite often quietly sabotaging or disparaging those efforts in the background.

It’s the same old circus.  Nothing changes but the clowns.

Philippines and the South China Morning Flush

It’s so disappointing to see the venerable South China Morning Post produce the same sort of shoddy and sensationalist journalism that so often plagues the Philippine media.

A February 21 story about the ongoing drama concerning negotiations around the US Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines is headlined “Duterte wants US$16 billion for VFA with American military. Fair price for a US ally in the South China Sea, or ‘extortion’?”

A subhead then intones that “The Philippine president has demanded Washington quadruple its aid to Manila in return for renewing the Visiting Forces Agreement.”

But it’s simply not true that Philippine President Rodrigo “Dturd” Duterte has made any such specific demand, although his flamboyant and notoriously truth-challenged spokesman Harry “Dorque” Roque has publicly floated some numbers to suggest the Philippines should receive more. Dorque also admitted in the same breath, of course, that THE PHILIPPINES HAD MADE NO SPECIFIC DEMAND TO THE UNITED STATES REGARDING INCREASED COMPENSATION TIED TO THE VFA. It’s hard to believe the South China Morning Post missed that critical portion of the discussion. It’s much easier to believe that the once reputable newspaper has simply taken a quick, dirty, and deceptive approach to presenting the news.

And that’s even easier to believe when the paper makes false statements of fact in its story, such as erroneously claiming that the VFA “grants the US jurisdiction over American military personnel accused of crimes while on Philippine territory.” Actually, the complete opposite is true. The VFA explicitly provides Philippine courts with jurisdiction over American personnel accused of crimes. The VFA merely provides that the US shall retain physical custody of the accused during the proceedings, which is totally reasonable for security, diplomatic, and other reasons. There’s an enormous difference between jurisdiction and custody, and any news organization covering this issue should clearly understand that by now.

The SCMP story goes on to state that “critics say the agreement, in effect, makes Filipinos second-class citizens in their own country” and cites the infamous Subic Bay “rape” case and the Laude transvestite prostitute killing case. What the story failed to mention is that in both cases the US fully cooperated with the Philippines and subjected both American defendants to Philippine court jurisdiction, just as the VFA requires. The Subic “rape” case fell apart after the purported victim changed her story, and the defendant in the Laude case was convicted and served his sentence in the Philippines, in a facility agreed to by both nations, just as the VFA requires.

It’s sad that public discussion of these issues so often remains polluted by sensationalism, emotion, distortion, and rhetoric that loses sight of both the facts and the larger issues at stake.

To its credit, the SCMP did interview a think tank analyst who suggested that the $16 billion figure that’s being bandied about as an example of annual US military aid to Pakistan, and therefore a basis for increased aid to the Philippines, is likely a huge distortion and that the figure may actually reflect both security and economic aid over the past 20 years. Now that’s something the news organizations should carefully examine and get to the bottom of.

But that would take some actual reporting work and analysis. It’s so much easier to stick a microphone in the face of some ridiculous kook and then repeat whatever they say, whether it’s true or not.

Somehow, the Philippines always seems to come out the loser with this formula but never really catches on.

The Philippines: Things can always get worse

Despicable Dturd has already demonstrated that his idea of leadership is to act like a pathetic old whore at a broken-down bar, who stage-whispers “demands” to whoever is forced to listen, rather than just state her desire directly to her presumed customer.

So after making an international fool of himself once again with reckless statements about “demanding” more aid from the US, it’s time for presidential mouthpiece Toupee Roque to join the fun and really make things stupid.

Roque was asked during a video call with reporters whether Dturd had actually specified what amount he was “demanding” that the US fork over lest the mercurial “strongman” abrogate the Philippines’ Visiting Forces Agreement with the US.

Dorque mumbled that there has been no specific demand, and that the US had not inquired.

“If they (US) ask for what our demand is, we will give it. But right now, I think it’s premature because there’s no offer, there’s no inquiry so far,” Dorque babbled, according to ABS CBN News.

In other words, the US is not playing this stupid game. And it shouldn’t. The US has indicated that the Philippines has already received the most US military assistance of any nation in the Indo-Pacific region.

But wait, said Dorque. Pakistan got more than us, about $16 billion, according to a think tank report! Therefore, we should get the same, or at least more than we’ve been getting! Kawawa naman. These clowns obviously fail to understand that relations between countries are not so simple, and that being a whining old whore is not likely to improve a defense posture. There are so many factors that must be taken into account, such as threat levels, treaty obligations, ability to manage assistance, and reliability of defense partners. Crying that “she got more than me” isn’t a basis for anything.

(And it should be noted that, despite Dorque’s admission that the Philippines had presented the US with no specific demand, the infamously dishonest Philippine Daily Inquirer soon posted an article, based on the same video call, with a headline falsely claiming “Duterte demands $16 billion for hosting US troops.” PDI seems determined to claim the title of Fake News Kings of the Philippines.)

Dturd later seemed to counter his own spokesman, and mumbled in a televised address that “It is not money I am asking for…we should be provided with arms and armaments that could place us at equal footing with countries at war with us.”

Well, the Philippines has a long, long way to go before it will ever be at “equal footing” with potential adversaries in the region, such as China. And pissing away its relationship with the world’s strongest military superpower isn’t going to put this prostitute regime anywhere but out of the bar and into the grimy back alley.

It’s the same old tired story: “Uncle Kano, stay out of our business! Uncle Kano, save us from ourselves!”

World tells Dturd: You’re a fucking idiot

Here we go again.

Sometimes it’s really hard to tell which is more full of shit: The Philippines’ pathetic excuse for a president or it’s highest-circulation daily “newspaper.”

Another fake news headline on the Philippine Daily Inquirer website today reads “Duterte tells US: Pay if you want VFA to stay.” But once again, Dturd wasn’t speaking to the US. He was speaking to Filipinos he was trying desperately to impress, in this case troops at Clark Air Base. He’s done this kind of silly shit before, of course. And his media enablers play right along and amplify his loose rhetoric beyond all truth and reason.

Dturd “demanded the United States to ‘pay’ if they want to continue its Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the Philippines,” reads the lead sentence of the Inquirer’s breathless nonsense. That exercise in ridiculous grammar should really win some sort of prize for bad news writing and incompetent editorial supervision. But we digress. The bigger problem is that Dturd didn’t demand anything from the US. All he did is pop off again before an audience, spouting what he may wish he were saying to US representatives.

In a stark example of paranoid rambling, Dturd told the Clark troops “I would like to put on notice if there’s an American agent here that from now on, you want the Visiting Forces Agreement done? Well, you have to pay,” according to the Inquirer, which once again confuses stenography with journalism. Hint: simply repeating whatever some kook says is not journalism.

It was just last month that Dturd made similar noises in public, telling cabinet members that he would demand Covid 19 vaccine doses from the US and terminate the VFA if he doesn’t receive them, which the Inquirer duly repeated without question. But in the month that passed, they never got around to following up and determining whether Dturd had actually communicated that demand, or anything at all, to the US.

So here we go again: Blustery statements by a frightened provincial elite brat trying to impress men in uniform whose respect he obviously craves, and ridiculous media stooges hanging on his every word but providing nothing of substance to readers.

So since the Inquirer is obviously not up to the task, maybe an actual news outlet can pose the obvious question: Have you presented any actual demands to the US regarding the VFA? Why do you make these ridiculous theatrical spectacles of yourself rather than clearly communicate with your treaty allies?

The likely truth here is that the US has already committed to provide substantial assistance to the Philippines, as it has done countless times before. But now a crude politician feels it necessary to publicly “demand” the assistance that’s already been committed, so that he may give the impression that his demand was responsible for securing the assistance.

This is an old, old act. Why does anybody still fall for this stupid shit? Seriously.

What will the Biden presidency mean for the Philippines?

Will Dutampo crank up the whining and theatrics or get down to coherent governance?

Now that US President Joe Biden has been sworn in and begun quickly getting things back to something close to coherent after four years of chaos, how will his presidency affect the Philippines and how will Dturd handle it?

Dturd and Trump seemed to understand each other at some level, both being authoritarian outsider elites who invoke crass nationalism and demonization to pander to aggrieved constituents with gonzo political theatrics.

But that shit’s not likely to fly very far with Biden.

Can we expect more loose drama about the Visiting Forces Agreement and loud demands that Uncle Kano bail the Philippines out of the next mess-of-the-moment?

Will Dturd run to the Chinese first to see what he can wheedle?

How long until he pulls his first silly stunt to test the Biden Administration’s response?

Or will he finally start conducting foreign policy like an adult who’s actually interested in the nation’s well-being and future?

Dturd’s tiresome whore mentality

Dturd’s latest outburst, in which he threatened to abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States unless the US hands over 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, illustrates once again that he has the mentality of a tired, old, bitchy, whore.

“Buy me some new shoes or I’ll give China a call and see if they want a blowjob,” seems to be the only song he can whistle these days. And he whistles it in the stupidest way possible, not unlike the angry desperation of a broke and lonely bar skank at the approach of closing time.

Explicitly tying a specific number of vaccine doses to a military agreement that provides a necessary operational basis for a mutual defense treaty demonstrates once again that Dturd is a pathetic leader and unreliable ally who simply does not understand how adults conduct foreign policy or provide for the defense and public health of a nation, especially a nation that remains woefully dependent on the international community despite frequent pseudo-nationalist tantrums by internal oppressors.

The blustery outburst also demonstrated once again that much of the Philippine media is stupid and sensationalist and should not be taken seriously. Why? Because the usual suspects bought right into Dturd’s silly drama and ran right off a cliff with it like the blind servants of the gangster state that they really are. “Duterte to US: No vaccine, no VFA” was the Inquirer’s alarmist headline over a December 26 story that began: “President Rodrigo Duterte put the United States government on notice on Saturday that he would continue with the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) if it could not provide the Philippines with its COVID-19 vaccines.”

But actually, both the headline and the story clearly made false statements of fact. That’s right, the nation’s highest-circulation daily newspaper straight-up lied to everyone. Again. Because Dturd didn’t make any statement whatsoever to the US. He simply popped off during a cabinet meeting and there’s no indication that any US representative was present to hear, which would be very, very unusual. So all Dturd actually did was have another temper tantrum and rant to his toadies about something he might do. He made no statement whatsoever to the US regarding the VFA and COVID vaccines, and at this point it remains unclear whether he will ever do so. Other media lemmings just ran along with the faulty premise without question.

Since then, various opinion spinners have politely noted that Dturd’s position is idiotic. But none of the “journalists” or “newspapers” or “news programs” have taken it upon themselves to inquire whether Dturd had actually communicated his “ultimatum” to the US or received any response. This stupid shit is so typical. But reasonable standards seem to forever elude the adolescent-minded Philippine media.

Is this all just another big show by a weak and frightened provincial brat who needs to be seen “standing up to” an authority figure in order to impress his loser peer group and assuage his deeply held feelings of insecurity and inadequacy?

Or is he just a silly old whore who doesn’t know any other songs?

Is the nation ready for Godfather Pacquiao?

Michael?  Or Fredo?

Ready or not, he could easily become the next president.

A very insightful piece by ESPN, of all sources, takes a hard look at what a Pacquiao presidency could mean.

He could certainly unify a whole lot of the nation, at least for a while.

He’s personally very disciplined.  And he believes the Philippines needs discipline too.  Hard to arque about that.  The Philippines absolutely craves discipline.

He’s adored by many.  He’s humble.  Unlike Dturd, he actually did grow up in dire poverty and experience the hardship of life.

He passes out free money to poor people who line up in front of his mansion, a generous if token gesture that also reinforces the debilitating mentality of patronage and serfdom.

He has no coherent ideology, is very light on education, even lighter on administrative skill and experience, subscribes to shallow dogma and fatalism, and surrounds himself mostly with sipsips.

In advocating the death penalty, he says ridiculous shit like “God allows governments to use capital punishment.  Even Jesus Christ was sentenced to death because the government imposed the rule then.”

He’s a craven apologist for Dturd.

And one brief passage in the ESPN story sums things up nicely:

“The global rise of populist strongmen like his ally Duterte, men who have weaponized the rhetoric of strength, is predicated on its supposed ability to elevate and protect these people. It is a phenomenon Jonathan Miller, in his book “Rodrigo Duterte: Fire and Fury in the Philippines,” calls the Strongman Paradox. Citizens believe they are empowering themselves by electing such a leader, when in reality everything the strongman gains, the populace loses.”

 

Why do people still clap for this douchebag?

You clap and he just punches you in the face again.

He’s presided over a tidal wave of police murders.  He’s selling the nation out to China as fast as he can.  He’s a crude, sleazy jerk.  Yet he’s still very popular among the people he’s clearly shafting.

So what gives?

The venerable Atlantic takes a stab at that seeming paradox and seems to accept two conclusions:  Many people feel safer because Dturd’s “war on drugs” has chased neighborhood punks off the corners; and people were very disillusioned with the weak leadership of wealthy elites who talked a good game at times but seemed so ineffective at improving the quality of life.

Fair enough.  But maybe there’s something more basic at work here:  People cheer for Dturd because he portrays himself as a tough guy who takes no shit from anyone, even though in reality he bends over and grabs his ankles.

In a nation where so many people feel powerless and frustrated, the faux tough guy gives them something to feel good about and attach their emotions to.  They really hate serving the local elites and the wealthy foreigners here and abroad, so they cheer the guy who insults them and says the things they wish they could say.

And there’s another important dynamic:  the Philippines craves discipline.  Really.

Popular and political culture is very adolescent, and adolescents often act out because they need, and subconsciously want, firm guidance.

The ingrained cultural trait of being flexible and non-confrontational, and cutting corners, can also be seen everywhere.  People tossing litter on the streets, cutting in lines, cheating, doing shoddy work, disregarding traffic signals and all the rest while usually receiving no rebuke from anyone unless they’re in a clear position of authority and explicitly tasked with regulating some specific behavior.

Yet most people will actually follow rules and laws if somebody makes it clear that they will be enforced.  Too often, that somebody is simply missing.

So when somebody portrays themself as a strong leader who takes no shit, and as a straight-talker who doesn’t try to fool anyone with niceties, many people succumb to their emotional needs and gravitate toward them, much as downtrodden people tend to cheer for winning sports teams and celebrities — who really don’t give a shit about them in return.

What we have here is a form of massive self-delusion.  That, and the sipsip mentality of sucking up to those in positions of power and jumping on their bandwagon because it might pay off.

Or at least make them feel like winners.