Abstract

The paper offers an explanation why Duterte won the election in 2016 and how his phenomenal rise can be accounted. Some scholars on Philippine politics attribute the rise of Duterte to the failure of liberal democracy. On the other hand, this paper argues that “failure of liberal democracy” explanation merely scratches the surface of the question and does not address the source of the failure. Gramsci’s notion of passive revolution this paper maintains point to the root of the failures of the liberal democratic regimes established after EDSA People Power revolt in 1986. The main contention of the paper is Duterte is a product of passive revolution. If Italy swung to fascism in the 1920s, this paper asserts Philippines in 2016 turned to Dutertismo.