Strongman, patronage and fake news

• Jefferson Lyndon D. Ragragio ^[1]
  1. [1] Hong Kong Baptist University

     Hong Kong Baptist University

     RAE de Hong Kong (China)

     
• Localización: Journal of language and politics, ISSN 1569-2159, Vol. 20, Nº. 6, 2021, págs. 852-872
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Human rights are essential pillars of democracies. But under populism, they are a proclaimed nemesis of political leaders who claim to represent the common people. This article argues that the discourses of strongman, patronage and fake news constitute three prominent right-wing populist ploys that erode human rights in Rodrigo Duterte’s Philippines. It interrogates the communicative power of populism as a means of disfiguring free expression and press freedom. Drawing from human rights and media reports and interviews, the pro-human rights current is reformatted by strongman pronouncement in the war on drugs, unity of long-established blocs of power through patronage, and belligerent charge of fake news.