Rodrigo Duterte: fire and fury in the Philippines Cover
Podcast Mentions

Rodrigo Duterte fire and fury in the Philippines

Jonathan Miller

The first biography of Rodrigo Duterte, the murderous, unpredictable president of the Philippines, a fascinating, fearsome man and the embodiment of populism in our time. Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines in 2016. In his first 18 months in office, 12,000 people were murdered...

Podcasts 1
Quotes 10
Behind the Bastards

It was described as the first biography of Rodrigo Duterte published for a global audience and was a major source for the episode. It was said to have a clear anti-Duterte bias but also contained numerous anecdotes about Duterte from his family and others who knew him as a child.

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He adopted the persona of a 'bugoy', the term for hoodlum in his local Bisaya language. He developed what was to become a lifelong obsession with guns. He drank and smoked and slept around often. He d...

— Episode: Part One: Duterte: The Mass Murdering Ma...

Episode: Part One: Duterte: The Mass Murdering Mayor

It was described as the first biography of Rodrigo Duterte published for a global audience and was a major source for the episode. It was said to have a clear anti-Duterte bias but also contained numerous anecdotes about Duterte from his family and others who knew him as a child.

"

He adopted the persona of a 'bugoy', the term for hoodlum in his local Bisaya language. He developed what was to become a lifelong obsession with guns. He drank and smoked and slept around often. He didn't come home at all, and if he did he'd slip in at 4 am. He became increasingly nocturnal and remained so to this day. He holds press conferences that begin at 1 am. He appears groggy when he has to attend a morning function.

The former NPA killers targeted glue sniffers and alleged petty thieves while the police and their contractors went after bigger fish, kidnappers and drug lords.

The Davao Death Squad held them for hours in a building inside the quarry before their executions. Their personal belongings were removed and burned, including the wife's Koran.

Las Caas also confirmed the use of the Laud Quarry as an execution ground, and when questioned said he could point to burial sites.

And when questioned said he could point to burial sites. These included those of an entire family killed with a silenced .22 caliber pistol, a suspected kidnapper, his Muslim convert wife who was seven months pregnant, their four-year-old son, her 70-year-old father, an elderly male relative, and the family maid, having abducted them from a neighbouring town.

Episode: Part One: Duterte: The Mass Murdering Mayor

It was used as a major source for the episode, and it was described as the first biography of Duterte for a global audience, with a noticeable anti-Duterte slant, despite including information from the subject and his associates.

"

He adopted the persona of a 'bugoy', the term for hoodlum in his local Bisaya language. He developed what was to become a lifelong obsession with guns. He drank and smoked and slept around often. He didn't come home at all and if he did he'd slip in at 4 a.m. He became increasingly nocturnal and remained so to this day.

And then there is the case of a man who was caught selling fake land titles. Duterte forced him to eat them in front of TV cameras. Reporters remember him instructing the cameraman to zoom in on him chewing.

The former NPA killers targeted glue sniffers and alleged petty thieves while the police and their contractors went after bigger fish, kidnappers and drug lords.

Duterte's office supplied everything: cars, guns, ammo, food, and money.

His hitmen were a mix of former communist party NPA assassins along with...run-of-the-mill contract killers.

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