Quora Answer: How Did President Rodrigo Roa Duterte become 2nd Most Powerful in Southeast Asia?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “How did the Philippines President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, become the most powerful man in Southeast Asia, after Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong?”

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is far from the most powerful man in Southeast Asia.  Power requires a certain level of authority at home, and the means to project that authority, at least regionally.

Within the Philippines, after the fall of Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr., the Philippine Congress enacted measures that prevents any of his successors from ever declaring martial law unilaterally.  The wings of the office were severely curbed.  When we consider the legal mandate, President Duterte has been making the same mistakes he accused his predecessors of, such as appointing loyalists to certain offices regardless of their qualifications and qualities, and failing to stand up to regional powers.  The President has neither the legal mandate, nor an overwhelming popular mandate.  He has frittered away much of his political capital in failing to stand up to China on territorial claims.

Within Southeast Asia, the Philippines is the second most populous, after Indonesia, but in terms of GDP per capita, lags behind all the major nations.  Its military is tiny, and geared towards counter insurgency.  The Philippines does not have the standing, or the leadership to take a leading role in ASEAN.  There may be much debate on who the strongest leader of ASEAN is, but the President of the Philippines is not part of that conversation.