Barredo, Calinawan, Coloma, De Guzman, Sale

11- Garnet
Group# 4
The Views of HUMSS Students on Philippine Foreign Policy Under Duterte’s
Administration

Introduction:
International Communities has been interested in investigating President Duterte’s
administration more specifically his war on drugs. Many among the youth have voiced
their disapproval on Duterte’s views, policies, and his attitudes through digital or online
means. There were also studies done by other countries on the negativity of Duterte’s
Presidency. In this research we ask what is the relationship of the youth’s views on the
Philippine’s government on the studies done by other countries? To be able to answer
this question, the research will conduct a case study on the Grade 11 HUMSS students
of ASHS.

Background of the study:

Recently, Iceland has requested to investigate the drug war that is going on in the
Philippines under President Duterte’s administration. This event has served as the
inspiration for this research, which compares the views of the youth in the Philippines to
the views of other countries on the administration of Duterte. More specifically, in this
research, the studies done by different countries on the presidency of Duterte will be
compared to what HUMSS students of the ASHS think about what Duterte has done in
his term as president. The purpose of this is to determine whether the HUMMS students
are politically active or updated to what is happening to the Philippines. This research
also wants to inspire future batches of ASHS to actively participate or to be aware of
what is going on in the Philippines. In this RRL, it will point out the use of social media
as a way to express an opinion, the negativity that has been seen in the country, the
violation of human rights in the Philippines and the HUMMS strand having a higher
aspiration to graduate and have a degree than any other types of strands.

Review of Related Literature:

1) The violation of human rights in the Philippines.

“Is the Philippine “War on Drugs” on Act of Genocide” by Dahlia Simangan gives us an
inside look on the war on drugs. With the use of statistics and news articles, the article
concludes if Duterte’s war on drugs is genocide or not. We can see with the stats that
Simangan used to know if this phenomenon really indeed is a genocide. The outcome
of the extra-judicial killings demonstrated Gregory H. Stanton’s stages of genocide. In
every aspect of the eight stages of genocide, it’s clearly seen that duterte’s
administration are drawn in this. Duterte drew the eyes of many because of his
advocacy. To stop the drug war here in the Philippines. His advocacy made promise but
fell into a bloody massacre that made him violate human rights. Although three years
have now passed, Duterte’s war on drugs hasn’t stopped even after allegations.
Duterte’s administration has really made a new boundary of being a leader. In so much
so, Duterte’s administration is somewhat turning into an “Authoritarian” way of
leadership (Simangan D. et al pp. 1, 19-22).

2) The negativity that is seen by other countries on the doings of the

administration of Duterte.

President Duterte has continuously proven to be an untraditional politician. His

leadership style has been characterized by his brazen attitude and a flurry of jokes and
insults that a traditional Philippine politician would never do. While this has angered his
critics and given him a negative image to other countries, such an attitude is also what
won him over with a majority of Filipinos, and by extension, the Presidency. Despite
President Duterte's aggressive leadership style and personality, he has been unusually
cautious in regards to the issue of the South China Sea and China's expansion towards
islands within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ. While Noynoy Aquino,
Duterte's predecessor as President, made his opposition to China apparent through
strengthening of ties with the US and by bringing up the matter of the South China Sea
to the Hague, Duterte has opted to try negotiating with China, distancing ties with the
US and not bringing up the issue of China's expansion into the South China Sea.
Despite this, it cannot necessarily be said that Duterte is trying to curry favor with China;
indeed, despite the economic deals he has made with China, Duterte has also made
military agreements with China's main rival: Japan. (De Castro, Renato C. pp 139-159)

3) The Violence in the Drug War of Duterte

The outlook of Duterete’s “war on drugs” that focuses on the “spectacle of violence”, in
which the humiliation and killing of supposed criminals that are used to apply a political
promise, but It is his capacity to use or threat of violence that has most defined his
political career. It cannot be denied that Duterte and his administration enjoys high
ratings in opinion surveys, which suggests popular support for his violent end on illegal
drugs. This article has shown that human rights, for Duterte, only applies to the persons
who has fear, not to the criminals. The violence works to the amount of benefit goes to
our political leaders to raise their popularity and combine power, it means when political
leaders shows a form of violence it does not mean that they are not leaders behaving
badly but are persons who actively pursue criminals in exchange for political benefits.
(​Reyes, D. et al. 111-137)
4) Aspiration of HUMSS Students and Their Views on National Bills

It has been shown that the chosen HUMSS students have studied the Marital
Dissolution of the Philippines before answering the questionnaires. The results indicate
that most students did not agree with the legalisation of divorce because of religious
beliefs and human values in society. And from those students, they also believe it will
not be effective in the Philippines and will be abused.(Nicolyn Aragones, Caryl Jade
Punay, Janidah Ampatua, Chris T. Sagarino, Jackylyn M. Maneja et al. pp 1-12.​)
Through this evidence, it is shown that students of the HUMSS strand have the highest
level of aspiration to go to college than any other strand. Aspiration as in to both get into
college and graduate from their chosen track which focuses on Humanities and Social
Sciences. It has also been stated that aspiration is also a strong predictor for their
readiness in pursuing a college degree (Cuy, Nonet A., Edwin M. Salinas et al. pp.
143–152.)

5) The use of social media as a way to express political opinion.

Many of the youth today have expressed their political views on social media and offline
means. According to a research done by the University of the Philippines Diliman on the
participation of the youth in civic engagement, it said that from ages 15 to 30 use social
media to either support their politician or buys materials for political purposes. Although
there are some who are actively participating in social media but do not express their
opinions in the outside world. These are usually a younger audience from ages 15-20
but it is also necessary to note that the ones who are active in both parts have a higher
education, especially those who are employed. Another thing to point out is that the
participation of the youth is mostly present during election season where many fund
campaigns or voice out their opinions in social media platforms. (G.Sebastian et al.
323-327)
Hypothesis:
The relationship of a HUMSS student’s view on the Philippine’s government on the
foreign policy of other countries have a direct relationship with each other

Theoretical Framework:

Conceptual Framework:
Definition of Terms:
1) Equi-balancing:
A diplomatic strategy wherein a smaller power fosters relations with two or more
competing major powers to a degree that allows them to influence the policies of
said major powers without opening themselves to outside influence (De Castro,
Renato C. pp 139-159)
2) Extra Judicial Killings:
The legally permitted judicial killing that occurs in systems of capital punishment
(​Reyes, D. et al. 111-137)

Methodology:

Overview:
1) Research question:
What is the relationship of the youth’s views on the Philippine’s government on
the studies done by other countries?

2) We intend to conduct a survey in the HUMSS strand asking the thoughts and
opinions of students on the current government of the Philippines

3) In the survey it will contain mostly qualitative questions.

4) The research will conduct a case study on the Grade 11 HUMSS students of ASHS.
Participants:
The participants would be in the grade 11 HUMSS strand in the ASHS which is a private
school and mostly would be in the ages of 15-18 year olds both male and female. The
students are mostly in the upper and lower middle class and are not yet married.
Data Gathering Procedure:
We will be giving a survey asking multiple questions on their thoughts on the doings of
the administration of Duterte for the past 3 years. The questions will mostly be fill in the
blanks and multiple numbers on how they feel about the current situation that is
happening in the government. These numbers will be (Happy, Neutral, Disappointed
and Angry).

Literature Map:
Conclusion:
In this review of related literature, it concludes that the majority of Filipinos see the way
President Duterte governs the country is mostly positive even though many countries
say that his administration violates human rights. Although the youth usually criticize
how Duterte reacts to foreign policy that his ways are not expected from a traditional
president. They would use social media to spread awareness or support their politicians
by donating money to their campaigns. That is why through this study we want to know
if the HUMSS strand, a representation of the youth, are always updated to what is going
on in the Philippines and if they are similar to the observations of other countries. It also
said in one of the journals that many students from HUMSS have a higher aspiration to
graduate and pursue tracks about social sciences than any other strand. Through this
study we want to inspire not only the HUMSS strand but the whole ASHS to actively
participate in the issues that are happening in the Philippines.

Sources:

● Iceland criticized Duterte’s drug war, so he accused its people of ‘eating ice’.
(2019, July 12). Retrieved from
https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/world/iceland-criticized-dutertes-drug-war-so-h
e-accused-its-people-of-eating-ice/ar-AAEfjGE?li=AAb2fpp&fbclid=IwAR0nKIOe
Yvg68KhBaxGG8vR2yIrocje_IL4F_KRyKu3YiT_gCFEia0dFOB8
● Sebastian, A. (2013, October). Digital and Analog Citizenship: A Study on the
Online and Offline Civic Engagement and Political Participation of the Filipino
Youth living in Metro Manila. University of the Philippines Retrieved from
http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/flipbook/viewer/?fb=2009-53672-Digital-&fbclid=IwAR0r
hkY38J-y7PA3suSONvAB90JqKjlgltWl3WIwAUew_ks9XE47yot6jb0#page-1
● Reyes, D. A. (2016). The Spectacle of Violence in Dutertes “War on Drugs.”
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 35(3), 111–137. doi:
10.1177/186810341603500306
● Montiel, C. J., Boller, A. J., Uyheng, J., & Espina, E. A. (2019). Narrative
congruence between populist President Duterte and the Filipino public: Shifting
global alliances from the United States to China. Journal of Community & Applied
Social Psychology. doi: 10.1002/casp.2411
● Nero, C., Orbiso, B., Mahusay, E., Suan, T. (2018). A linear correlation analysis
of student engagement and level of understanding among Grade 11 Humanities
and Social Sciences Students. American Journal of Humanities and Social
Sciences Research, 2(8): 41-47
● Bautista, L.B. (2016). Smooth waters ahead or rising tides of uncertainty?
Philippine foreign policy under President Rodrigo Duterte. Thinking ASEAN, 13,
5-7. Retrieved from
http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3512&context=lhapapers
● De Castro, R.C. (2016). *The Duterte Administration’s Foreign Policy: Unravelling
the Aquino Administration’s Balancing Agenda on an Emergent China. Journal of
Current Southeast Asian Affairs , 35*(3), 139–159. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1177/186810341603500307
● Aragones, Nicolyn & Punay, Caryl & Ampatua, Janidah & Maneja, Jackylyn &
Sagarino, Chris. (2019). PERCEPTION OF ILIGAN CITY NATIONAL HIGH
SCHOOL HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES STUDENTS TOWARDS THE
DIVORCE LEGALIZATION BILL. 10.13140/RG.2.2.17385.54887.
● Cuy, N. A., & Salinas, E. M. (2019). Aspiration and Readiness of Filipino Senior
High School Students in Pursuing College Degree. Open Journal of Social
Sciences, 07(05), 143–152. doi: 10.4236/jss.2019.75012
● Thompson, M. R. (2016). Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs. Bloodied
Democracy: Duterte and the Death of Liberal Reformism in the Philippines,
39–68.