President Duterte is the absentee landlord of Philippine politics. In his absence, Sen. Bong Go, his personal aide of two decades and the erstwhile special assistant to the President, often serves, all at the same time, as source, bearer, and filter of the President’s thinking.
Other national politicians have been actual absentee landlords; some landlords have won high political office without spending too much time away from their properties. But in the history of the Philippine presidency, no one has been AWOL as much as Rodrigo Duterte. Even Joseph Estrada, not known for an ethos of hard work as a politician, respected the office enough to be present for most important occasions; he did not embarrass the country by flying to summits...