Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jan 2017
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2017 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Ted Aljibe

AN UNLIKELY OPPONENT EMERGES AGAINST THE PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT'S BRUTAL 
DRUG WAR: THE VICE PRESIDENT

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, a tough-talking populist who
took office in June, has earned international condemnation for
ordering or encouraging thousands of extrajudicial killings intended
to rid the country of illegal drugs and bragging about personally
having killed people.

But at home, he remains extremely popular, with approval ratings
topping 60%, and firmly in command, with his supporters controlling
Congress, the courts and the police and military.

His detractors have found some hope in an unlikely figure: the vice
president.

Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo, a soft-spoken former human rights lawyer,
was not Duterte's running mate. In the Philippines, the president and
vice president run separately.

Over the last month, the 52-year-old Robredo has emerged as the most
powerful critic of a president whose authoritarianism recalls the days
of Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986 and
used murder and torture to silence his opponents.

The deadliest fire in a decade has focused new attention on Ghost Ship
warehouse owner Chor Ng, Congress is holding its first hearing today
on the Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election,
Aerospace firms are stepping up competition with Silicon Valley for
young engineers and if Amazon's Alexa is always listening, can she
incriminate you in a crime?

The deadliest fire in a decade has focused new attention on Ghost Ship
warehouse owner Chor Ng, Congress is holding its first hearing today
on the Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election,
Aerospace firms are stepping up competition with Silicon Valley for
young engineers and if Amazon's Alexa is always listening, can she
incriminate you in a crime?

The deadliest fire in a decade has focused new attention on Ghost Ship
warehouse owner Chor Ng, Congress is holding its first hearing today
on the Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election,
Aerospace firms are stepping up competition with Silicon Valley for
young engineers and if Amazon's Alexa is always listening, can she
incriminate you in a crime?

The deadliest fire in a decade has focused new attention on Ghost Ship
warehouse owner Chor Ng, Congress is holding its first hearing today
on the Russian cyberattacks during the presidential election,
Aerospace firms are stepping up competition with Silicon Valley for
young engineers and if Amazon's Alexa is always listening, can she
incriminate you in a crime?

Three family members were shot to death and one severely injured in an
apartment in Fontana. Police believe another family member is to blame.

Three family members were shot to death and one severely injured in an
apartment in Fontana. Police believe another family member is to blame.

It's snowing in the Sierra. It started snowing Jan. 4, and you can
already see what Mother Nature has wrought.

It's snowing in the Sierra. It started snowing Jan. 4, and you can
already see what Mother Nature has wrought.

California's bracing itself for the Trump administration, California's
drought looks to be easing as snow piles up in the Sierras, protesters
are shutting down Mexico's streets over a sudden spike in gasoline
prices, and nationwide, more than 84% of undergraduate computer
science majors are men. Not so at Harvey Mudd.

California's bracing itself for the Trump administration, California's
drought looks to be easing as snow piles up in the Sierras, protesters
are shutting down Mexico's streets over a sudden spike in gasoline
prices, and nationwide, more than 84% of undergraduate computer
science majors are men. Not so at Harvey Mudd.

An Israeli military tribunal has convicted a medic of manslaughter in
the fatal shooting of a hobbled Palestinian assailant last March -- a
verdict that spurred public protests and a call from the prime
minister for a pardon.

An Israeli military tribunal has convicted a medic of manslaughter in
the fatal shooting of a hobbled Palestinian assailant last March -- a
verdict that spurred public protests and a call from the prime
minister for a pardon.

"I think people are coming out [against Duterte] now more than
before," she said in an interview at her office in Quezon City, a few
miles from the presidential palace. "During the first three or four
months of this administration, it felt like no one was willing to make
known their opinions on many issues, for fear that they would become
vilified in social media. Because that's what happens, all the time.
But we have to fight it out."

Robredo spent her early career as a social activist. Her husband,
Jesse Robredo, was a popular politician who became secretary of the
Interior in 2010 and two years later died in a plane crash. Robredo
decided to carry on his political legacy, winning a seat in Congress
and serving for a term before seeking the vice presidency.

She narrowly defeated Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the late dictator's son,
in the election last May.

Traditionally, the vice presidency is largely a ceremonial role,
although several vice presidents have run government agencies. Duterte
named Robredo to his Cabinet as head of the Housing and Urban
Development Coordinating Council.

But any harmony between the two was short-lived.

This fall, when Duterte approved the interment of Marcos' remains at
the National Heroes' Cemetery and buried him in a surprise ceremony,
millions of Filipinos objected. Robredo channeled their grievances.

"Ferdinand Marcos was a thief, a murderer and a dictator," she said at
the time. "He is no hero."

Duterte accused her of attending antigovernment protests, which she
denied, and on Dec. 4 the Cabinet secretary ordered Robredo to "desist
from attending all Cabinet meetings."

She resigned from the Cabinet the next day.

Resigning meant she no longer had to feign respect for Duterte's
policies, she said, and can now attend "public events" protesting the
killings without fear of political blowback.

"When I was still a member of the Cabinet, even if I wanted to
participate I didn't, because it would've been offensive to the
president," she said. "Now that particular thing, it isn't there anymore."

Her defiance has made her a hero to some Filipinos. But her popularity
lags far behind that of the president, who had a satisfaction rating
of 63% in a December survey by the polling organization Social Weather
Station.

Soon after the election, Duterte promised a "dictatorship against
evil" -- namely, illegal drugs. The scope and brutality of his
anti-drug campaign has stunned the world, as police and vigilantes
have killed about 6,200 suspected drug dealers and users, and hundreds
of thousands more have turned themselves in.

In December, he announced that he personally killed three suspected
criminals while he was mayor of the southern city of Davao. He has
repeatedly threatened to declare martial law.

To many Filipinos still taken with strongman nostalgia, the harsh
action and tough talk struck a chord. To Robredo, it is an unsettling
setback.

"I think for a country that has recognized strong democratic
institutions in the past -- and has believed that the rule of law will
bring order and stability to the nation -- it's scary," she said. "In
the last five months, we seem to have forgotten our core as a nation."

Some of her supporters have compared her to former Philippine
President Corazon Aquino, who entered politics after the death of her
husband and stood up for human rights and civil liberties in leading
the "People Power" protests that ousted Marcos in 1986.

The vice president plans to continue promoting an agenda of "nutrition
and food security, universal healthcare, education, rural development
and women empowerment," her spokesperson said.

Yet since resigning from the Cabinet, she has focused on extrajudicial
killings.

Her position has made her a frequent target for Duterte supporters.
They flood her social media accounts with threats and insults, she
said.

In late December, after a typhoon battered her home region of Bicol,
critics attacked her for being out of the country and not returning
immediately from vacation in New York.

"Where are you?" Mocha Uson, a popular Filipino singer, told reporters
on New Year's Eve in comments directed at Robredo. "In the past, you
would hold a press conference over a small issue. But now, a disaster
hit your hometown and you can't be reached."

Robredo has since visited the region.

She also faces a challenge from Marcos Jr., who contested the result
of the May election and lodged a protest with the Supreme Court, which
has yet to resolve the issue.

Richard Javad Heydarian, an expert on Philippine politics at De La
Salle University in Manila, said Robredo faces a more fundamental
problem: "You need a tough-minded leader to take on Duterte, or take
over for him -- and she still doesn't project that. She's sweet, she's
nice, but people don't see her as leader material.

"My concern is -- not because I'm for or against her -- but that for
any functioning democracy, you need a robust opposition," he said.
"And I don't see a robust opposition, or even a robust opposition
leadership here."
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MAP posted-by: Matt