Part 4: 2017-2018
30. The Talkative Terrorist
I left Manila in August 2016 both a little more enlightened and a little more confused about the political situation in the Philippines. I’d learned more about Duterte’s appeal to the public, his electoral tactics and his iron rule over Davao. However, I was perplexed by his relationship with the left – which was set to be a crucial factor over the next few years of his administration – not least because the people on the left I’d spoken to were ambiguous about both his intentions towards them and their intentions towards him.
In May 2017, I watched from afar as the city of Marawi on Mindanao Island was occupied by the infamous ISIS-affiliated Maute terror outfit. Duterte promptly declared Martial Law in the region, which was scarily redolent of the Marcos period. Named after the maniacal warlord family that runs it, Maute appeared to be better trained and more aggressive than other cells in Mindanao. This may have explained why they were withstanding daily aerial, artillery and ground attacks by the AFP.
There were concerns in the Philippines and in neighbouring nations that the city could become a nerve centre for ISIS activity in the region – it might soon be known as the ‘Mosul of Southeast Asia’. After all, Maute was thought to comprise both local and foreign fighters from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East. Duterte’s credibility could also rest on the outcome of the siege because, during his election campaign, he’d made much of his cordial interactions with Islamist groups in the south.
While mounting casualties on the jihadist side and the intervention of US Special Forces on behalf of the military suggested the state would likely win this particular battle, it seemed to me that the larger war wouldn’t end until the root causes of discord in the south were addressed. The Bangsomoro(Muslim community or nation) had been struggling for self-determination since the Spanish Empire first tried to colonize it in the 1500s. The Americans tried the same in the early 1900s. While tensions between Mindanao and the central government in Manila were dampened by the establishment of Islamic autonomous regions in 1989 and 2012, many southerners continued to feel neglected and marginalized. Mindanao contains eleven out of the twenty poorest provinces of the Philippine archipelago and has far fewer jobs, schools and hospitals than the better-off north. ‘With poverty, hunger, and the lack of economic opportunity strongly felt in these areas,’ argues Lila Ramos Shahani of the Philippine Starnewspaper, ‘the youth are easily recruited to “live by the gun”.’
It’s a familiar irony across the developing world that great natural wealth can often be found a few thousand feet underneath human suffering. Mindanao is no exception here. In 2011, Wikileakspublished a US diplomatic cable revealing that the island possesses untapped oil and gas reserves that could be worth up to US$1 trillion if properly exploited. This ought to have been good news for all Filipinos north and south, but would probably instead become another rationale for another conflict.
In late July I contacted José Maria Sison, the most famous figure on the Philippine revolutionary left, to discuss the Marawi question and to find out his angle on the left’s dealings with Duterte. Before he was due to chat with me by Skype from his home in Holland, I read that Duterte had said Sison, now seventy-five years old, was suffering from colon cancer, which Sison irately denied. The allegation appeared to be vindictive, as relations between the two men had cooled since Duterte had suggested that Sison could join his cabinet only a year before.
When the video screen came on, I could see Sison looking blankly at me, buck teeth framed by Churchillian jowls. A woman was sitting beside him, slightly out of frame.
‘Hello sir.’
‘Hello Tom.’
‘Are you well?’
He laughed.
‘So there’s no truth to the cancer story?’
‘I’m okay despite Duterte’s confused statement that I am dying. He wants to kill me! Now apparently he has said he wants me to commit suicide. This was after I rebuffed him about the colon cancer. He must be taking a lot of fentanyl.’
‘So they say.’
‘Don’t you know he’s the number one addict in the Philippines?’
I laughed. ‘You’re probably bored of being asked about these recent dealings with him, so I want to instead ask what are your feelings about Duterte’s policies and his actions as the president, especially with regard to the drug war? Is it compatible with socialism or with human rights, and with the sort of dignity that socialists believe humans deserve?’
‘Duterte has much experience of cooperating with the revolutionary movement in Davao City. I’ve been wondering how the comrades managed to deal with him!