#DuterteStandardTime: Mga Pamamahalang Pamanahon

• Main Author: Benitez, Christian Jil R
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2020
• Subjects: time; Filipino time; Rodrigo Duterte; quarantine and pandemic; contemporary Philippine poetry; Creative Writing; Poetry
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/filipino-faculty-pubs/58; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=filipino-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This study attempts a preliminary analysis on the present administration with a particular focus on the mechanics of time. From the understanding of “Filipino time” as a possible tactic for insisting power, the study turns to poems that directly associate the President Rodrigo Duterte to the concept of time, to reveal that despite his seeming ordinariness is his extraordinary capacity to “pull” “ordinary time” itself. This power becomes critical, especially in the present pandemic, when “time is of the essence.” However, as hinted from the meandering government reports and “poetic” attempts to criticize the administration, it can be perceived that nothing seems to really happen, as if Philippine time itself has stopped, not only because of the reality of the present pandemic, but also because of the “homogeneous and empty” promises of change to come.