Filipinos love their President Rodrigo Duterte

The President of Philippines Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte has ruffled a lot of feathers ever since he became the President of the country. He has targeted one and all in his fiery speeches, including the ex-President of USA, Barack Obama. Known for his aggressive attitude and tough stand on drug-cartels, Duterte has earned quite a notoriety for himself in the region. 

Before becoming President, he served as Mayor of Davao City for four terms and under him Davao City won the National Literacy Hall of Fame Award. During his time as the Mayor of the Davao City, Duterte passed many constructive laws such as regulating the sale of liquor, imposing speed limits in the interest of public safety, anti-smoking ordinance, making CCTV cameras mandatory for all shopping malls and commercial centers. One of the biggest achievements of Duterte during his time as the Mayor of Davao City is that he passed the Women Development Code (WDC) in the city, the WDC is a comprehensive women’s rights law codified with the purpose of eliminating discrimination against women, it has been credited for paving the way for the Magna Carta for Women in Davao. 

ThePresident of Philippines Rodrigo 

Owing to his largely successful and populist polices and an aggressive election campaign, Duterte won the Presidential elections in 2016 by more the 6 million votes compared to his closest rival. Duterte became the oldest person at 71 to take post of the President of Philippines on June 30, 2016. Immediately, after taking office Duterte announced several populist measures, which by the end of 2016 ensured him 70th place in the Forbes list of ‘The World’s Most Powerful People’. 

President Duterte has vowed to make Philippines a drug free country and the drug-war his administration is waging is an indication of that. Furthermore, Duterte has showed more prudence and willingness to resolve the conflict Mindanao insurgency than any of his predecessors. 

The thing that has really made Duterte stand out is his commitment to pursuing an ‘independent foreign policy’, independent of the West at least, since he has always showed willingness to work closely with China and Russia. 

Duterte is viewed very positively by a majority of Filipinos, both residents as well as expats. “As a Filipino Muslim, we never felt being treated equally by previous administrations other than Duterte, he treats everyone equally (Muslims, Christians, Lumads) even when he was just a Mayor in Davao and if you go and ask any Muslims in Mindanao you will find that they really love and support him as he is the only president who really understands what is happening in the South”, says Minda S. Obeidat, the Chairperson of the MRRD-NECC PENAMFED (Peoples National Movement Federalism)- Qatar Chapter. 

Supporters of Duterte’s anti-drug war also claim that most of the killings are carried out by the drug mafia as they do not want surrendering people to become informers for the police. 

Vociferously defending Duterte, Obeidat adds, “Far from the international media portrayal about Duterte, which we believe is a destabilization strategy of another party, President Duterte has proven his dedication first in his once-upon-a-time no man's land into a peaceful and modern city in Mindanao. And he won a huge margin during the 2016 election because people are looking for a "change" which he promised and which is now happening in the Philippines. The so called "critics" are the ones who ruled the nation and put us in a very bad situation like drugs and criminality and are now being charged and put to prison. The main reason is Duterte's plan to re-instate Death Penalty, in which most of their crimes will be punishable by death like treason, plunder and murder. If what they say about our President is true and he is guilty of any of those crimes, why would he pursue it?”

Other than ruffling the feathers of world-leaders and going tough on drug-mafia, Duterte loves to read, he is particularly fond of Robert Ludlum and Sidney Sheldon. He is also known to be a fan of big bikes; however, he can’t stand luxury cars, it is learnt.

Duterte is also pro-planned parenthood and pro-LGBT. 

However, there are many urban legends that surround Duterte. There is one in which he supposedly pushes a drug trafficker from a flying helicopter. One in which he treats taxi drivers to dinner. Another in which he beats up a Philippine military soldier, breaking his two front teeth. One incident, confirmed by the mayor himself, involves him forcing a tourist to swallow a cigarette butt.

Sounds like he’s a pretty interesting person, no wonder Filipinos go ga-ga over him.