There once was a man in Manila.
Of him we’ve had more than our fill-a.
He’s unleashed his thugs
On the folks who sell drugs.
You could call him Rodrigo the Killa.
I’ve always believed that individual political systems are the product of national culture and historical experience, rather than some concept of universal rights. The exception to that would be due process of law, without which a civilized and prosperous society, in my view, is simply not possible. That is what makes Duterte’s approach to vigilante “justice” so obnoxious.
(Incidentally, Duterte bears plenty of resemblance to Trump, so Americans, and the rest of the world, should be viewing him as a test case for a Trump Administration. You can see the fruits of his erratic behavior and coarse vocabulary already.)
How do we deal with this? We have strategic interests in common with the Filipino people that transcend our disgust with Duterte. We don’t have to embrace every aspect of the Filipino political system in order to cooperate on issues regarding the South China Sea. The answer, to me, is clear: tell the world openly and bluntly that America will continue to cooperate with the Filipino leadership on matters of mutual interest regardless of our belief that vigilantism ultimately accomplishes nothing, and will come to a bad end. That approach lets us pursue our interests without compromising our values.