The “brutish and macho” President Duterte has eroded the rhetoric of compassion in his singular focus of getting rid of the narcotics trade as a way to bring growth and development, according to a Filipino academician.

The Inquirer sought the opinion of Gene Segarra Navera, a Singapore-based rhetoric expert, on the President’s first 100 days in terms of language and messaging.

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“Because he is the President, the way he communicates matters significantly. It invites a particular way of thinking,” Navera said.

“I’m afraid his rhetoric is the kind that encourages a society of bullies instead of a society that empathizes. Compassion has been lost all in the name of public safety, peace and order and security—terms that are easy to toss around and to use for a certain interested perspective, usually the perspective of a faction of the elite,” he added.

Mr. Duterte has shown his unorthodox and colorful way with words, winning the presidency with 16.6 million votes. Curiously, his constant cussing has both charmed and offended the public.

He has not let up on his verbal tirades against those he deemed enemies of the Philippines—US President Barack Obama, the European Union, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon—for calling him out on the alleged human rights violations in the government’s war on illegal drugs.

He has challenged them to bring their development packages somewhere else because the Philippines is not a mendicant nation.

Reckless statements

“He appears to be squandering his huge political capital by making reckless statements. There is no doubt that he has huge public support; people supportive of his administration seem to choose to overlook his brutish rhetoric. But as pointed out by a lot of people, his kind of rhetoric is only applicable to the election campaign season,” Navera said.

Navera said Mr. Duterte “appears to be operating in a binaristic framework,” which is “either you are for me or against me.”

“But that does not mean we ought to follow the same—whether we support or choose to be critical of his policies. The President is not infallible—his supporters should be reminded of that,” he said.

“Vilifying Mr. Duterte is not going to fly as it would only result in the same binaristic thinking that we ought to resist,” Navera said.

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“People will eventually get tired of listening” to the President if he continues to be “reckless and brutish in his statements,” he added.

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