I'm sorry to say this, but comparing Bolsonaro to Duterte is not extreme or alarmist. I know both countries fairly well, and I think Bolsonaro is more radical than Duterte in both rhetoric and political positioning.
Here in Brazil, people think the Duterte comparison is some ridiculous reference to another planet, but the Philippines under Duterte is real, I go there all the time, life there exists. And if we're honest, Duterte's program was not as maximalist as this
It might be the case that Brazilians hear about Duterte in exaggerated terms, and that the Philippines sound like some far-off hell country. But it might also be the case that that is how much of the world could hear about Brazil under Bolsonaro. Or not. We'll probably see.
Here's a quick thread with some of the reasons I believe Bolsonaro's program is more radical than Duterte. Would his presidency be more radical or violent? I don't know. But I think that so far, the evidence could point to Bolsonaro as a more dangerous figure.
1. In the Philippine context, Duterte is fairly pro-LGBT. Check out this Washington Post article (I didn't do this one): washingtonpost.com/news/worldview… 
1. This is the first article I did on Duterte, and among others I interviewed one of his most public supporters, a famous trans activist washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…
1. And this is something I did on Duterte's daughter and mayor of Davao City, who hardly fits the bill of the "traditional Philippine family" theoutline.com/post/1805/rodr…
2. Duterte started his Presidency quite pro-environment, appointing this Environmental Minister who immediately took on the entire mining industry (she lost, and was replaced, and Duterte backed down, but that's how it started). news.mongabay.com/2017/05/the-ri…
3. Duterte campaigned as a "socialist" and was friendly with the left when he started the Presidency. On this one he also changed tactics, eventually unleashing more of his violent repression instead. But he didn't start that way. I wrote about that here: washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…
3. Of course, leftists can be radical, too. But Duterte's political project was not about demonizing / exterminating a political group, like Bolsonaro's continues to be. Duterte saved his threats of apocalyptic violence for drug dealers and users.
4. The proposals to unleash security forces on criminals and control crime through extra-judicial executions are where Duterte and Bolsonaro are most similar. At the risk of sounding crude, here they seem to be more or less, "equally bad."
4. Numbers debates are ongoing, but it's generally recognized that Duterte's "drug war" killed thousands of people. Could Brazil's security forces kill thousands of people over the next two years? I think the answer, unfortunately, is that it's very possible.
4. Brazilian police *admitted* to killing 5,000 people just last year (never admitted to be EJKs, of course). My guess is the number is significantly higher. Now what happens if cops here get 20%, 30%, 50% more "aggressive" because Bolsonaro tells them to? g1.globo.com/monitor-da-vio…
4. EJK, by the way, is "extra-judicial killing" - everyone in the Philippines knows this acronym now. Maybe Brazilians will have to learn it too. And significantly, getting cops to just go wild doesn't actually require you pass a law. Just rhetoric up top brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2018/06…
5. Another big similarity Duterte and Bolsonaro have is that both countries had anti-communist, pro-US dictatorships during the same period of the Cold War. Recently, Duterte has gotten close to the Marcos clan, that is, the family of the old dictator. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
5. Check the dates. The 21-year Marcos dictatorship ended in 1986 in the Philippines, and there has been political instability and widespread corruption ever since. Sound familiar? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Po…
5. But again, on this one, I would give Bolsonaro "even more radical" than the Filipino. Duterte has never considered the "yellows" (the PH version of red, kinda) as sub-human, and Duterte pushed to distribute reparations to victims of the dictatorship newsinfo.inquirer.net/895300/duterte…
6. One last thing. Brazil is simply bigger, more important, richer, and more influential than the Philippines. In my NYRB story, I wrote about the "imperialism" under the last Brazil dictatorship. This is a very important country. nybooks.com/daily/2018/10/…
Is all of that "alarmist" ? No, just real. I want to say again that, life in the Philippines goes on. The last time I was there, I saw this show, and all the women were energized, dedicated to lives of struggle. I love Manila and would totally live there. dazeddigital.com/music/article/…
And whatever happens Sunday, I'm still going to love Brazil, and (if they let me back in ), I will keep coming here, and there will be lots of things to work on (no but seriously please don't ban me).
Oh also I forgot there's this too
