Stephen Rhey M Booc

Xl-St. Gabriel HUMSS

Minor Performance Task: RWS Module 1

The article entitled “Becoming Duterte: The Making of Philippines Strongman” written
by Richard C. Paddock is an article about the biography of Rodrigo Roa Duterte and how he
became a man that has a violent vision but still became a good president in the Philippines. Some
of the author’s information in the article was already controversial and well know because
everybody talks about it especially in the media. As we can see it, the portrayal of Duterte’s
character by the author was balanced, they were good and bad things that the president has done
that was stated in the article. Paddock’s intention in the article was to make people overlook at
the other sides of President Duterte and his works, so their opinion will not become a hoax. But
does the author really portray the ideas in an organized structure? Is it enough to make people
not misinterpret things by reading his article? Or does it use right words that connect with the
tone and voice of the author?

Firstly, let us take a look of the work’s main ideas. As we can see, the article was the
process of how President Rodrigo Roa Duterte molded in different ways. The general idea
presented in the article was showing that President Duterte is the person that is shaded with
violence but still became a strongman with dignity. The first paragraph is all about the work of
President Duterte when he was still a mayor in Davao City. The ideas were flowing constantly,
like it describes how he is a man in Davao and then his works that made the place at peace and
how it was influenced by his attitude towards his people. It was a good thing to start talking
about President Duterte in his first political work because that was the time he became a well-
known man by regulating strict rules especially in smoking, drinking, and the use of drugs. The
question like “How he became a furious man that rules a community?” “How did it became a
better place by being influenced with his personalities?” might be ask by the readers of the article
in the first paragraph. That is why in the author’s next topic, it stated the life of Rodrigo Roa
Duterte before he enters politics. It was portrayed that Rodrigo Roa Duterte was a son of a
governor but has lived in his own way and became a street brawler. He had blood in his hands
when he was young. That is why his background status became the supporting details in the first
paragraph.
 Also the idea was that he is a son of a governor and had considered himself as a bad guy, it gave
him his own sense of justice where people will really follow him and will be scared in him. Until
the fluidity of idea continued in the article because it then stated the vivid details of his life and
how he lived, and how the community influenced him when he was still a teen. Until it talked
about how he became the mayor of Davao even spending 7 years just to finish high school. The
thought of “President Duterte is a scary man” that was stated in the sentences of the first
paragraph became a stronger idea when it was said in the article that he was a former leader of a
known group in Davao city that kills people with crimes. Moreover, it talks about his works that
made him the President of the Philippines. Details like “he became a strict politician ruling his
place” served as the supporting details of why people entrusted their votes to him in the election
of presidency.

After we critique the fluidity and organization of ideas, we will now analyze the article as
a whole. As we can see in the whole article, some of inappropriate words were used that changes
the intention the author and the readers understanding. For example, in the title, it is stated “who
has struggled with drug abuse”. Its ideas portray differently like its telling us that President
Duterte became addicted to drugs even though those drugs were used medically and he already
told the people that he is not addicted. The author even put that sentence even the details of that
in the last paragraph has a lack of supporting details. Next is the lack of use of coherence and
cohesion. As you can see, when the author talks another topic, he just simply made it as a new
paragraph even it falls as supporting details. Because after all, the articles’ physical structure is
good, it used correct punctuation marks, spelling and capitalizations.

Thus, the whole article is good at giving ideas in a more fluid away, its information was
really showed how President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s violent vision turned into a national policy
that made the country better.