Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III did the Republic and the Dutertes a good turn by saying former president Rodrigo Duterte’s obsession with death and murder is a sign of “serious personality disorder” that must merit clinical observation by professional analysts. Pimentel issued the statement in reaction to the former president’s “joke” during the PDP-Laban proclamation rally about killing 15 senators using a bomb to ensure the success of his senatorial bets in the May 2025 election. After binge watching “Designated Survivor” like his cherished daughter Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio, he wanted a similar bomb attack in “jest.”
Duterte’s repeated remarks about death and killing stands in contrast to his reported fear of sleeping in Malacañang, which he said was “teeming with ghosts,” goblins and perchance hobgoblins and the highly-feared “tambaluslos” that inhabit the forests of Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao. Scared stiff of the mythical folkloric creatures, Digong nonetheless stands brave in talking with alacrity about murdering people, bragging about killing one fellow during his high school years and failing to gun down his own frat brother in Lex Tallionis while in law school.
Yet, he has kept silent about his failure to shoot down commentator Waldy Carbonell whom he challenged to a duel in Sept. 2003 after the latter went to Davao City to investigate the murder of commentator Jun Pala in the same month. He threatened to slap Carbonell, who in turn said he’ll reply in kind, twice. The duel was set at 9 AM the following day but Duterte was nowhere to be found. Did he fly over the cuckoo’s nest? No, he just flew to Taipei, Davao City Hall employees said. Carbonell waited for Godot. That episode showed a lot about the character of Duterte as he dared a man to a duel only to mysteriously disappear. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had the courage to duke it out with pistols, not Duterte.
“A person’s obsession with the topic of death and killing, mentioning it every time he or she speaks, is a worrying sign of a serious personality disorder,” Pimentel said. Turning to the inquiry into that sordid joke, the senator said: “Let the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) do their work. They should know if, given the facts, a crime has been committed or not. If there is no crime whatsoever, then let us drop the issue.” Both the NBI and DOJ found Duterte’s “threat” to be political propaganda. It is all smoke and mirrors. Yet, the 30,000 corpses and the thousands of bereaved families during the bloody “war on drugs” were not a fib; none of the victims had a day in court as they were abducted, shot dead or their heads wrapped with duct tape.
Aside from Duterte Sr., his children, all members of the Davao City political dynasty, also have a rough time relating to reality, with Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio refusing to be investigated by a panel at the House of Representatives since the lawmakers were “unfair” and were organized to “besmirch her reputation’ and “soil her good name” because they do not want her to run for the presidency in 2028. She also threatened to kill Marcos Jr., his wife, Liza Cacho Araneta Marcos and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Araneta and throw the remains of the fascist dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in the West Philippine Sea. Earlier, she also thought of beheading Marcos Jr. Similarly, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte bragged that in 2028, he will volunteer to be the defense secretary to wipe out the New People’s Army (NPA) and Moro rebels. On the other hand, Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte continues to lash out at House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez for “withholding” P51-billion for public works projects in Davao City in a bid to further eviscerate the Duterte political machinery.
All four Dutertes thus have a pained relationship with reality and fractured sympathy for the truth. “Psychosis is a cluster of symptoms, not an illness. It’s sometimes described as ‘losing touch with reality.’ What’s likely happening during psychosis is that the person has disruptions in their thoughts and the way they interpret their thoughts that makes it hard for them to recognize what is real and what isn’t,” wrote Dr. Lori M. King for WebMD on Aug. 20, 2024. Psychiatrists use The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) to help them decide if a patient has psychosis. Psychosis is when a person has abnormalities in thoughts and perceptions in any of these ways: Delusions, which are false beliefs that the person can’t tell are false; hallucinations, which are sensory experiences that other people don’t or can’t share; disorganized thinking or speech, which are patterns of thought that aren’t logical, linear, or goal-directed; disorganized behavior, which are patterns of behavior that are unpredictable or inappropriate, and; negative symptoms, which are a decrease or loss of normal functioning.
According to the DSM-5 the most common psychotic disorder is schizophrenia, which is characterized by active-phase symptoms for at least a month that include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, such as veering off-topic frequently or speaking incoherently, disorganized or catatonic behavior, which is a neuropsychiatric condition wherein a person moves abnormally, has abnormal behaviors, and may withdraw completely. Negative symptoms include diminished emotional expression or a lack of motivation to start and keep doing goal-directed activities. Analyses must continue “to rule out that the condition is caused by schizoaffective, depressive, or bipolar disorders, as well as substance use, medication, or another medical condition.”
Duterte Sr. had, in fact, been analyzed by Dr. Natalia Dayan for a Pasay City court that heard the annulment case filed against Duterte Sr. by his wife Elizabeth Zimmerman Duterte. The analysis showed that Duterte Sr. was incapable of performing his matrimonial duties since he was a womanizer and was determined to be suffering from “anti-social narcissistic personality disorder,” a sociopath given to blaming others for his transgressions. In short, he cannot maintain control over his heart and home. Forthwith, the judge granted the annulment and freed Elizabeth from suffering further in the home that was Duterte’s detention center. Pimentel is right, the Dutertes may need psychiatric assessment, like the many members of the 140 or so political dynasties in the country. (DIEGO MORRA)
