Crisis Management

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The analysis above is mainly from the realist perspective. Besides, political culture will also have an effect on President Duterte’s words and actions, and then influence the tension situation. The study of Filipino political culture is helpful of understanding the operations of its domestic politics.

Filipino political culture (a) covers all thoughts and feelings, material symbols, group- accepted practices, (b) shared by large pluralities of interacting Filipinos, (c) as they produce, allocate and use political powers within, outside, and in interaction with the state (Cristina Jayme,2000).

Table 1 Subjective Components of Filipino Political Culture

Subjective components of Filipino political culture

Examples of how group subjectivities are activated during political exercise

•Ideology-inspired ·shared interpretations of political events

• Shared mental scripts

• Negative emotions toward outgroup members

• Collective memories

• Religious belief

• During the Visiting Forces Agreement debate. in 1998, one ideological vew saw the VFA as a new form of US colonial intervention 1

• "Volunteer" campaigners carry a widely accepted mental script that those who help in a candidate's campaign get rewarded with a job and/or government contracts if the candidate wins

• Members of one faction in Malacafiang Palace carry in their mind (sometimes exaggerated) narratives of what the rival camp is scheming and plotting against them

• The anti-Marcos group still hold memories of how constitutional changes can be used to rationalize the declaration of martial law 2

• Religious faith includes working for social justice and working in favor of issues such as land distribution

Notes:

- The VFA, forged between the US and Philippines in 1998 under the Estrada administration, resurrected deeply buried anti-American sentiments laid to rest when the Philippine. Senate voted for the removal of the US bases on Sept. 16, 1991. Gumilla, 1999).

- On September. 21, 1972, President Marcos issued Proclamation No.1081, citing constitutional conditions permitting marshal law.

Resources: Philippine Political Culture: A Conceptual Framework. P.116

Table 1 lists some subjective components of Filipino political culture, and gives examples to illustrate how group subjectivities are activated during political exercises. These subjective aspects of culture are basically psychological in nature. However, unlike dominant psychological discourses, they do not pertain to idiosyncratic singular individuals, but arise during political interactions of human pluralities (Cristina Jayme,2000).

Actually, the political culture in the Philippines is unique. The Philippines’ political culture is second to none in Southeast Asia and even in the whole Asia. It evolves from actions of both internal and external factors, one of which is the intentional transplant and guidance by the US, whose influence is the greatest (Wang Yong 2004). Since the independence of the Philippines, it imitated the US and established its own political system. In the colonial period, the American political, judicial, and educational systems were transplanted to the Philippines, and these systems are still in operation so far. At the same time, the American culture, represented by English, is also deeply rooted in the soil of the Philippines. Also, during the American colonial period, the United States has cultivated an upper-class group of people who were well-educated in the United States, and these people’s occupations were include landlord, freelance, lawyer, judge and politician etc. They were social and political leaders of the Philippines, advocates of the independence movement of their country. Today, one of Filipino political culture features is political family monopoly power. Relying on family advantages to start one’s own political career exists in many countries to different degrees, including the United States, but it may not be as widespread as the Philippines. The consequence is turning politics into the arena of a few elite families. The former President Benigno Aquino III is a good example. Therefore, Filipino political culture has strong “American gene”. However, given that Duterte didn’t come from the elite group, so the Filipino elite groups and families probably produce an influence on President Duterte’s words and actions, but the influence will be less than the former President Benigno Aquino III received.

Although whether this kind of political culture of the Philippines would influence President Duterte is uncertain, it’s sure that they will be decisive in affecting the future direction of bilateral ties.

Behaviorism seeks to examine the behavior, actions, and acts of individuals – rather than the characteristics of institutions such as legislatures, executives, and judiciaries – and groups in different social settings and explain this behavior as it relates to the political system. [2]When compare “state interests” and “behavioral traits of leaders”, I would say based on psychological study, “behavioral traits of leaders” has the research value, and it must have influences on the political process. Particularly in Duterte’s case, he is a President with strong personal will, which is totally different from the former one. So if we study his behavioral traits, we may find out some interesting results. However, I’m not convinced that “behavioral traits of leaders” is more important than “state interests”. I agree with the view of realist, “That the actors in the international political system are rational as their actions maximize their own self-interest”. Even in the Philippines’ case, the Duterte administration’s all foreign policies are driven by the national interests of the Philippines. Although it seems that Duterte administration is staying away from Washington and going to Beijing, but it is conditional. For example, he asked China to help the Philippines infrastructure construction, especially the railway construction. With geopolitical and economic reasons, maintaining peaceful relationship with China accords with state interests of the Philippines.

As the hard