Duterte Harry: fire and fury in the Philippines

by Jonathan Miller

The first biography of Rodrigo Duterte, the murderous, unpredictable president of the Philippines, whose war on drugs has seen thousands of people killed in cold blood.

Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines in 2016. In his first 18 months in office, 12,000 people were murdered on the streets, gunned down by police officers and vigilante citizens — all with his encouragement.

Duterte is a serial womanizer and a self-confessed killer, who has called both Barack Obama and Pope Francis ‘sons of whores’. He is on record as saying he does not ‘give a shit’ about human rights. Yet he is beloved of the 16.6 million Filipinos who voted for him, seen as vulgar but honest, a breath of fresh air, and an iconoclastic, anti-imperialist rebel.

In this revelatory biography, Channel 4 News’ Asia Correspondent Jonathan Miller charts Duterte’s rise, and shows how this fascinating, fearsome man can be seen as the embodiment of populism in our time.

Genres: Politics, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Asia, Audiobook

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2018

About the author

Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE was a British theatre and opera director, author, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy review Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and performers Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. Despite having seen few operas and not knowing how to read music, he began stage-directing them in the 1970s and became one of the world's leading opera directors with several classic productions to his credit. His best-known production is probably his 1982 "Mafia"-styled Rigoletto set in 1950s Little Italy, Manhattan. He was also a well-known television personality and familiar public intellectual in the UK and US.

Reviews

[Jerecho · Rating 2 out of 5]

As they say history repeats itself, on the contrary history repeats itself with a twist. Pres. Duterte comes into power on June 30, 2016, but a few killings and knockdown began a month prior to his election in presidency.

I couldn't say the author is biased nor he is angry with the present administration but all I can say is that he is pinpointing events that are not the president doings, maybe in his orders, but the fact still remains that police and people have their own minds to do the right things or do things their own way, or done things that possibly be the wrong choice but right in their mind. What I'm just trying to say is that they followed the orders but executed it wrongly. Maybe it's a command responsibility that's why they blame the president.

Anyway, some parts or most parts of the book is repetitive. You can find some input in a chapter and find it in another chapter. Maybe the book can be reduce to half if some editing happens.

Philippines is a great country, we may have some problems but we all lean to one and that is family. And as Duterte is the president of this country, he is the father, and I do believe that as a father he will protect our country no matter what. Even if it results to weeding some unnecessary children that is corrupted by drugs.

Solutions begins in one simple step. There are so many things to tell, but problems need solutions, in that case we need recommendations not a story with a repetitive sentences.

2 star ratings for a story that needs improvement. Because things can be improve if some good editing are done, some sentences are not use repetitively, and some are some, maybe you know what I mean.

[Peter Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Within the 1st chapter the author establishes his perception of the personality, modus operandi and family background of his subject matter, the current president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte.

So too he presents a position on the effects Duterte’s drug polices are having with the social fabric of the Philippines, with the truly impoverished and poor being murdered for their use and/or street level dealing of methamphetamine. The author paints a truly concerning picture of the man and the policy.

Rather than continue to develop a wider narrative, the chapters that follow are additional references, interviews, experiences and historical re-telling that do not expand greatly on the first. The chapters rehash the 1st, twist it slightly, provide further pieces of evidence of the same initial picture and fail to expand the narrative beyond the first circa 20pg’s.

I therefore thought that this worked missed opportunities, resulting in semi dimensional work that could have embraced a wider section of both local and global content, opinion, projected outcome and indeed a deeper assessment of where this point in time may leave the Philippines, thier dominant religion and what immediate and/or lasting impacts it may have on the region, and indeed, on the global geo political map.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book while searching for a book material on President Duterte after I've moved to Manila and got engaged to a Filipino citizen. One of the few books out there about the President in so much detail. However, I can't help but find the author biased and accusing in his narrative instead of just sticking to the facts and quotations and letting the reader decide sides and make conclusions. Some of the resources used confidently in the book were later on discredited after the book's publication. Still nonetheless a detailed perspective of President Duterte and his background. Remember however that it's just one perspective and it would be wise to not get carried away and draw radical conclusions before you make further research.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 2 out of 5]

A hit piece written by a liberal that has to shoehorn in his hatred for Trump every chance he got. Aside from that some information still got through. While the author was horrified that Dutarte would execute a man that raped and murdered a 9 year old gitl, I understood his public appeal.

[Scribe Publications]

“Fire and fury” is the mentality of despots everywhere. Miller has terrifyingly captured that condition — bullying, threatening, vengeful, and lethal.
Michael Wolff, Author of Fire and Fury

This book will piss off the powerful, which is why you should read it … With unflinching prose and the rigour of a veteran journalist, Jonathan Miller disrobes Rodrigo Duterte for all to see. Beyond the myths and propaganda of [Duterte’s] supporters, the Filipino politician is here paraded nakedly, with his contradicting good intentions that involve bloody violence, broken promises, and the brazen perpetuation of dynastic patronage politics that continue to dismantle Asia’s oldest free republic … This portrait presents a cautionary tale of the kind of authoritarian rulers that stand to hijack any democracy if we citizens do not participate in protecting it while we still can.
Miguel Syjuco, Author of Ilustrado

Miller's fast-paced, lively narrative helps explain how an electoral insurgency led by a charismatic populist … has put the Philippines on the road to authoritarian rule.
Walden Bello, Former Philippine Congressman (2009-15)

An invaluable portrait … it deftly weaves Duterte’s rise with the country’s history of living through dictatorship and nearly making it across the line where some degree of economic prosperity and political maturity was making a dent on social inequality and impunity — before being rudely and brutally thrown into the mass grave that it has turned into.
Ruben Carranza, Filipino Lawyer

This story jumps out of the pages like a thriller. But it’s all true. [Rodrigo Duterte] makes Trump look tame.
Hamish MacDonald

Jonathan Miller has lifted the lid on a viper’s nest. [Rodrigo Duterte] is a terrifying insight into the abuse of democracy, and how we the people allow justice to die.
Andrew O’Keefe AM, Seven Network

Rodrigo Duterte has been labelled by the US media “the Donald Trump of Asia” … Miller talks to relatives of murdered drug users and, in unsettling detail, tells of children as young as five being caught in the savage crossfire.
Sunday Territorian, Four Stars

This book lays it all out in shocking colour.
The Saturday Paper

Among the most skilled and lyrical correspondents that I know: Miller describes the grim actions of one of the most infernal leaders of the 21st Century. A shocking book — but one that demands to be read.
Jon Snow

Duterte Harry deftly guides readers through this warped political landscape to reveal the vulnerability of a tempestuous leader.
Economist

Jonathan Miller, a correspondent for Channel 4 News, paints a shocking portrait in stark language of the man known as ‘Duterte Harry’ after Clint Eastwood’s uncompromising ‘Dirty Harry’ Callahan. The most striking aspect of Miller’s detailed biography, which draws on interviews with Duterte’s family and friends, is how proud many Filipinos are of their maligning and murderous chief executive.
Time Literary Supplement

[Rodrigo Harry] captures the strongman leader in all his contradictions.
Reuters

Jonathan Miller … skilfully weaves in fear, shock and pain, including meeting those on the hit list and those left behind.
Jim Robinson, North and South

[A] deeply reported, vivid foreign correspondent’s account of the man’s rise to power.
John Reed, Financial Times
 
This study of the foul-mouthed ‘gangster’ by a writer who’s lived in the country for yonks is a real eye-opener.
The Sunday Sport

Miller’s is perhaps the most comprehensive biography of Duterte yet, exploring the unique circumstances that moulded the leader’s psyche, his style of leadership and, later in life, his rise to the presidency.
Richard Javad Heydarian, Mekong Review

Miller, a correspondent for Britain’s Channel 4 news, bases his account on extensive reporting, placing the reader up close as Duterte’s manic and macho personality plunges the Philippines into perpetual civil conflict.
Joshua Kurlantzick, Washington Monthly

[Mrs C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unbalanced. The book repeats several statements made by Duterte chapter after chapter and describing the same events that happened all throughout the book. Why doesn’t the author just stick to the timeline/narrative and mention it one time and go to the next one? The repetitive nature is a distraction. I get it, he said son of a whore to so and so. A few chapters in, remember, he said son of a whore. And later on, mentions it again. Yes, I get it. Many of what the author mentions in the book are well-known tidbits that those who follow Duterte’s activities are privy to. I was quite interested in Duterte’s childhood, still the author manages to squeeze in, hey, remember, the guy is a killer every now and then which was exhausting. Also I noted his use of the term “trolls” to Duterte’s “supporters.”

Access to review copy provided by the publisher.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgive the technical lapses (repetitive in some aspects, a couple of grammatical and typo errors) because the book is a very engaging read, and is well-researched. I think it should be read by every Filipino especially in the light of the incoming senatorial and local elections. Electing people who will just kowtow to this president's wishes means perpetuating the culture of impunity and condoning the horrible management style of this president. I am not sure if the book is even available in Philippine bookstores which is indicative of how businesses (i.e. bookstores) would rather stay on the safe side than trigger the ire of the book's subject.

It is in no way a perfect book, but I'm glad somebody wrote it so that the rest of the world will know facts rather than the "fake news" that abound in the Philippines today.

[John Hollenkamp · Rating 2 out of 5]

...a waste of my purchase price, in hindsight.
Was I unhappy to have read most of it? I felt compelled to read sufficient to have an opinion. The writing/reporting jumps around like a mexican flea circus. The many characters described and involved in the police/judicial/political arena don't mean much to an outsider. Duterte is just another authoritarian with an agenda that appeals to many...rid the streets of drugs, dealers, druggies and what seems to be many poor people. His 'Daveo Death Squad' are basically a group of mercenaries under the pretense of holding up the law...and Duterte is the gang boss.
...I only read this to page 205, out of 352. It was simply becoming repetitive and tedious. Not a well-told non-fiction story.

[Anthony Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fiery condemnation of Duterte that delves into his childhood and his history as mayor of Davao. Lots of good vignettes, but could use a good editor- it doesn't have a discernible flow, and brings up events and concepts multiple times as though they are the first time.

[Laura P · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be labelled a biography it is very subjective.
Lots of repetitive use of "bugou" and "putang ina - son of a whore" (I counted 6 times on 1 page)
Heavily reinstates the shabu problem and DDS.
Confronting and interesting.

[Scribe Publications]

“Fire and fury” is the mentality of despots everywhere. Miller has terrifyingly captured that condition — bullying, threatening, vengeful, and lethal.
Michael Wolff, Author of Fire and Fury

This book will piss off the powerful, which is why you should read it … With unflinching prose and the rigour of a veteran journalist, Jonathan Miller disrobes Rodrigo Duterte for all to see. Beyond the myths and propaganda of [Duterte’s] supporters, the Filipino politician is here paraded nakedly, with his contradicting good intentions that involve bloody violence, broken promises, and the brazen perpetuation of dynastic patronage politics that continue to dismantle Asia’s oldest free republic … This portrait presents a cautionary tale of the kind of authoritarian rulers that stand to hijack any democracy if we citizens do not participate in protecting it while we still can.
Miguel Syjuco, Author of Ilustrado

Miller's fast-paced, lively narrative helps explain how an electoral insurgency led by a charismatic populist … has put the Philippines on the road to authoritarian rule.
Walden Bello, Former Philippine Congressman (2009-15)

An invaluable portrait … it deftly weaves Duterte’s rise with the country’s history of living through dictatorship and nearly making it across the line where some degree of economic prosperity and political maturity was making a dent on social inequality and impunity — before being rudely and brutally thrown into the mass grave that it has turned into.
Ruben Carranza, Filipino Lawyer

This story jumps out of the pages like a thriller. But it’s all true. Duterte Harry makes Trump look tame.
Hamish Macdonald

Jonathan Miller has lifted the lid on a viper’s nest. Duterte Harry is a terrifying insight into the abuse of democracy, and how we the people allow justice to die.
Andrew O’Keefe AM, Seven Network

Among the most skilled and lyrical correspondents that I know: Miller describes the grim actions of one of the most infernal leaders of the 21st Century. A shocking book — but one that demands to be read.
Jon Snow

Rodrigo Duterte has been labelled by the US media “the Donald Trump of Asia” … Miller talks to relatives of murdered drug users and, in unsettling detail, tells of children as young as five being caught in the savage crossfire.
Sunday Territorian, four stars

This book lays it all out in shocking colour.
The Saturday Paper

Duterte Harry deftly guides readers through this warped political landscape to reveal the vulnerability of a tempestuous leader.
Economist

This book is a history, but also a fable in a time of increasing authoritarian populism. It is a great read, crackling with moral outrage.
Weekend Australia

Jonathan Miller, a correspondent for Channel 4 News, paints a shocking portrait in stark language of the man known as ‘Duterte Harry’ after Clint Eastwood’s uncompromising ‘Dirty Harry’ Callahan. The most striking aspect of Miller’s detailed biography, which draws on interviews with Duterte’s family and friends, is how proud many Filipinos are of their maligning and murderous chief executive.
Time Literary Supplement

Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines captures the strongman leader in all his contradictions.
Reuters

Jonathan Miller … skilfully weaves in fear, shock and pain, including meeting those on the hit list and those left behind.
Jim Robinson, North and South

[A] deeply reported, vivid foreign correspondent’s account of the man’s rise to power.
John Reed, Financial Times
 
This study of the foul-mouthed ‘gangster’ by a writer who’s lived in the country for yonks is a real eye-opener.
The Sunday Sport

Miller’s is perhaps the most comprehensive biography of Duterte yet, exploring the unique circumstances that moulded the leader’s psyche, his style of leadership and, later in life, his rise to the presidency.
Richard Javad Heydarian, Mekong Review

Miller, a correspondent for Britain’s Channel 4 news, bases his account on extensive reporting, placing the reader up close as Duterte’s manic and macho personality plunges the Philippines into perpetual civil conflict.
Joshua Kurlantzick, Washington Monthly

[Rose Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

In Duterte's War on Drugs, more than 150k anti-drug operations were conducted, more than 200k people were arrested, more of less ₱40 billion worth of drugs were seized, more than 1M people surrendered under the Philippine Nationa Police's Recovery and Wellness Program, and thousands of Reformation Centers established.

Now let it settle in for a bit... ONE MILLION drug pushers and drug users. That's a very big number huh? But let me guess, you are still focused on the several thousands who have been killed, aren't you? Thought so.

That's because nothing Duterte says or does will ever get you to like him. Just admit it.

Also, I will point out, that despite the reality that, (1) we really do had a rotting drug problem in the country, (2) this administration is doing so much better to fix it than any other in the past, and (3) there is a possibility that the President's critics and enemies could be behind some of the killings in order to derail his programs - nothing will change your mind. The Holy Spirit and all the angels and saints could come down on Duterte's side, and it won't mean a diddly squat.

So guess what? Get lost.
We're tired and we're just not even going to try talking to you anymore. You can go take a flying crap at a rolling donut for all we care.

To the opposition and their followers:
You want to go live in denial in that little DISENTE world you think you created, go ahead. Have fun. Duterte'll be out here fixing the mess you guys left. Because it is a pretty big mess, you know.

Duterte, PDEA, & PNP have burnt billions of pesos worth of confiscated drugs. Again, let that settle in... that's a number followed by 9 zeros. And this isn't even the only drug-destroying they've done. They have also dismantled more than 1,000 drug dens and drug laboratories, labs after labs have been shut down and billions more of contraband have been taken off the streets.

No wonder people are being killed, I'd be doing some killing too if I was a drug Lord and all this shit is messing with my business. Haven't you guys been watching Narcos?! It's what they do!

But no, its far more convenient for you to just sweep the past decades under the rug and blame Duterte, isn't it? Of course all of these have to be HIS fault. Who else could it be right? He and his dirty mouth and his non-disente breeding. He is the monster. Not the guys who allowed the drug menace to grow - but the man who is trying to put a stop to it.

Well here's a bit of news for you; most Filipinos don't share your point of view. And no mater how much you pay for that expensive PR campaign, you're not fooling anyone.

As if this institutional blindness wasn't enough, it gets so much worse when one realizes that the politicians driving all this anti-Duterte crap really don't give a rat's ass about all the human rights stuff. It's all about politics to them. Just look on Liberal party's record on media killings, or on the massacre of natives and protesters, and the rise of drug lords - and its pretty clear that the only reason they're riding this issue is because it can possibly be their only ticket back to Malacañan. Or so they think. And as long as they do, they are going to milk every death for all its worth. And to hell with the families of those who die, and the consequences for the rest of the country.

Make no mistake about it, the vested interest of the Liberal Party and their allies in mainstream media are two biggest threats to the stability of this country right now. While they continue to play footsies with the public and deny it, they have clearly gone beyond criticism, and are threading on the dangerous grounds of actively trying to undermine the presidency. Let's stop kidding ourselves already. It's obvious that these presstitutes and paid and biased media are brewing something that they think will unseat Duterte. But at what cost? They do not care. They will throw the Filipinos back to the dark ages. Back to the days when good, honest Filipinos cowered in fear while the criminals ruled the street. These over-fed assholes - yes, I am talking about Drylon, Panggilinan, Aquinok, Hontivirus, Dilemma, Trililing, and the whole caravan of idiots - still can't get over the fact that people really, honestly, sincerely, hate them and can't wait for the next elections to kick their sorry asses out of government.

I am not saying that those deaths don't matter. They do matter. They are Filipinos. I am saying that we are talking about WAR on drugs. Casualties are inevitable. We are all at risk.

If there is anything that mounting body count is good for, it is as a gauge of the people's real sentiments. It is a measure of what the Filipinos are willing to accept in order to have peace and order, and is a direct reflection of their frustrations with the failures of the past administrations. "Kapit sa patalim" is an apt description of the way people feel right now. And for majority of Filipinos, Duterte is not the problem, his critics are.

Now we have free education and universal healthcare, thousands of kilometers of new roads, railways, thousands of new bridges, hundreds of thousands of new classroom, hundreds of new hostipals, countless irrigation systems, flood mitigating structures, new school buildings, evacuation centers, cleaner rivers, sewers, and bays, safer streets, new airports, sea ports, bus terminals, airport terminals, etc, etc. So, we dont really care what the outside people say. You know nothing.

BTW. Miller interviewed him once and in that interview, Duterte called him a son of a bitch.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Duterte Harry" by Jonathan Miller is an amazing insight to former president/dictator Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. Also nicknamed "the Punisher" and the "Trump of Asia", the stuff that comes out of Duterte's mouth is legendary, even if you can only take half of what he says seriously (as his spin-doctors claim). He calls Obama and the Pope "sons of whores". He claims he will murder anyone involved with drugs, including his own son if needed. He says he will ride a jet ski to one of the artificial islands China made and plant a Philippines flag on it in defiance. He says that he has been to America and it is "lousy." His controversial jokes include, "I love the gays. I used to be one." Despite his macho/edgy persona, Duterte was actually the son of a governor and was raised in a wealthy home.

Sadly though, the ugly side to Duterte's rule goes way beyond offending people with words and backfired jokes. Duterte uses scapegoats (i.e. Islamists, communists, drug cartel/users) to justify his police state rule. He has alienated the Philippines' allies and has made a mess of diplomatic relations. And most surprisingly to me, despite all the tough talk and emphasis on fighting drugs and crime, it simply has not worked, despite many Filipinos believing it has helped. In the name of his violent war on crime, Duterte unleashed a full-blown motorcycle hit squad that killed thousands of "criminals", even though that the victims are overwhelmingly poor and small-timers. However, statistics show that the crime rates in both his home town (when he was mayor) and the Philippines (since he was president) have not gotten better, and corruption has increased. The "kill them all" strategy failed.

I wish there was an epilogue to this book, which was published in 2018. In March 2025, Duterte was arrested by the International Criminal Court, and he is in the Hague awaiting trial. Without a doubt the prosecutors of Duterte have read this book cover to cover!

[Matthew Gibb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book because it started to ramble quite a bit about a third of the way through. Nevertheless, it is a great overview of the gun totting,Harley riding, womanizing former president of the Philippines, and former mayor of Davao City. As all politicians are still human, that is the case here as well. There have been many innocent children killed as a result of Duterte's death squad, who he writes off as collateral damage. There is proof that bodies have been cut up and disposed of at a cement quarry by his death squad. Still, the president put the fear of mortality into drug dealers by having 12 thousand of them killed. Through it all, I wonder why the Philippines, an archipelago, much like Japan, can't get itself organized? I now believe that most politicians are crooked. This one has been in power for years, and it seems he could simply be the Godfather of Davao City.

[Paul Whitla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and meticulously researched biography of Rodrigo Duterte, published at the tail end of his tenure as President of the Philippines. Presents a rather complex figure; bawdy and uncouth in public, but sly and manipulative behind the scenes. Good investigative journalism that uncovers the truth behind Duterte's rise to power and his notorious 'war on drugs' that resulted in the summary death of thousands of Filipino's in extrajudicial killings.

Well sourced for a foreign journalist and filled with insights from key players (including with members of Duterte's own family) and from the ordinary filipinos who have suffered most from Duterte's policies.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having lived outside of the Philippines for more than a decade, I have been out-of-touch with what has been happening there. During a recent visit, I am bewildered by this fairly new president. How can someone lacking in international diplomacy and having a one-track mind continue to stay in power? This investigative account features interviews and research outlining Duterte's background and political life. It is revealing, shocking and enlightening.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as preparation for a recent trip to the Philippines. I found the book quite engaging at the beginning, but towards the end, it seemed to keep repeating the same general points about Duterte and lost a little of its focus.

However, if you want to understand current Filipino politics, I would recommend you read this. The book spurred me to investigate more deeply the data behind the EJKs (or lack thereof).

[Sebastian Song · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is messy journalism as Jonathan embarks on his expose on Duterte. Though insightful and involves many players for and against the President, the many interviews and stories fail to gel into a cohesive solid. Nevertheless a good introduction to the controversial man in charge of a country best known for ending a brutal regime peacefully.

[Lien Bach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will kill you. I will shoot you dead. I will have you killed. Kill kill kill. Son of a Whore. Putang ina mo. Etc etc. it is unbelievable all that comes out from a President (of the Philippines) and that went on in every page of the book. This book is a bit repetitive and lengthy. So I don’t know which one wore me out more, the Durterte curses or the way Jonathan Miller wrote. Nevertheless, there are so many fascinating stories told that it made the book worthy to read.

[Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

was excited to read this book but i echo other comments... most of what needed to be says was done in the first few chapters, followed by a lot a interesting but somewhat drifting stories and interviews. still worth a read but not what i expected after encountering miller's other work.

[Maxwell Kenyatta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Miller gives the best account of Duterte's personal and political life and the killing squads causing fear and misery under his rule. He also talks about the Duterte's Martial Law campaigns.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book contained good information on the Duterte regime. However, the author gives only cursory coverage to why many Filipinos admire their dictator. In order to understand the crimes it is important to understand why he so well liked by many in his country. The book also seemed repetitive. I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over.

Some good information, some stuff missing, and lackluster writing.

[Benjamin Farr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written, page-turner account of the rise of Rodrigo Duterte and the effect his presidency has had upon the Philippines (spoiler: it's been horrific).

[Erin Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this one. Read it with more of a May 2022 focus and keeping track of names that were ~secondary characters in 2017. Feels right to have finished it on the anniversary of EDSA.