Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and the ABS-CBN headquarters. Photo composite: Jansen Romero, mb.com.ph and abs-cbn.com hilippine President Rodrigo Duterte appears headed down a path many strongmen, dictators, and tyrants have taken. For one, he has been relentless in his attacks against media giant ABS-CBN. Threatening, bullying, and even lining up a selected outfit that can take over after the broadcaster's franchise expires. Duterte's actions are not those of a restrained and law-abiding statesman; they are more like those of a despot, drunk with power. Duterte should be reminded that he might be the president, but it is the congress that has the authority with regards to broadcast franchises. His meddling is clearly a usurpation of that authority. The pace with which Duterte is amassing power appears to be accelerating, thanks in large part to pliant senators and congressmen who seem to have a fuzzy understanding of the terms "separation of powers" and "checks and balances." With diminishing legislative oversight, Duterte is increasingly behaving like a tyrant. As Lord Acton astutely noted in 1887, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Duterte is now using his near-dictatorial powers to muzzle his opponents. So far, he appears to have succeeded in silencing many of his critics in government and the media. In a recent New York Times article, Jason Gutierrez quotes Richard Javad Heydarian, a political scientist and journalist who notes that "Mr. Duterte appears to have taken from the playbook of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has also been accused of curtailing freedom of the press." According to Heydarian, "There are just elements of Putinism here. We can see some Putin-like crackdown on the independent media, which was part of the Russian strongman's strategy of consolidating power." In his concise yet compelling book, "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century" Timothy Snyder lists 20 lessons learned from the rise of tyrants and despots throughout the last century. The one that stands out most for this writer is the book's first lesson: "Do not obey in advance. Tyrants are always gauging how much they can get away with. People instinctively obey what they are told to do even if they know it is wrong." A significant number of Duterte followers must have failed to heed this lesson. They readily accept and obey even his most misguided acts. They have convinced themselves that Duterte has only their best interests at heart—the president does what he does out of love for the country. Duterte's followers tolerate even his most extreme directives, like extrajudicial killings, having convinced themselves that it is the only way Duterte can bring about radical change. It is thus not surprising that many Filipinos support Duterte. During the 1930s and '40s, many Germans likewise supported Adolf Hitler. Their large numbers, however, did not mean that what they were advocating was right. Likewise, Duterte's supporters can never erase the fact that thousands of poor, addicted Filipinos have been killed in his misguided drug war. A war that Duterte appears to have lost, given that illegal drugs in Philippine streets are as prevalent today as they were in the past. The president now appears to be distancing himself from the chaos surrounding ABS-CBN's franchise renewal. Now Duterte says he does not want to shut down ABS-CBN. But given his past rhetoric, most will find that hard to accept. What Duterte wants is to silence all opposition. He follows Putin's playbook, receives guidance from China's Xi Jin Ping, and follows in the footsteps of his predecessor Ferdinand Marcos—all tyrants like he appears to have become. The day when no one is left to oppose Duterte will be the day Filipinos will realize that they are no longer living in a democracy. At that point Malacañang Palace will be home to a tyrant and no longer to a president. Published 2/19/2020