Who is Rodrigo Duterte? His Controversial Quotes and a Glimpse at His Political Career
On Monday, the Philippines started voting for its next president and ahead of the official declaration of results, frontrunner Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte has claimed victory over his opponents.
Local networks started releasing unofficial results and the figures suggest that Duterte might soon celebrate a landslide victory. Major TV station GMA Network unveiled partial numbers as of May 10, 2016, 1:00 PM PHT. Based on the numbers, Duterte is leading by 6 million votes.
According to The Guardian, the tough Davao City mayor said, "It's with humility, extreme humility, that I accept this, the mandate of the people." Before the elections started, two polls revealed that the Donald Trump-like presidential hopeful led his opponents by 11 percent.
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While some outlets and political experts questioned the 71-year-old politics veteran for his rash comments on several issues involving the Philippine government, Duterte seems to have gained the trust of the masses as he promised to eradicate crimes within six months of his presidency.
Duterte has also received backlash a couple of days before the election after he made a joke involving the rape of an Australian lay minister in 1989. Despite his controversial background, Digong, as he is famously called by the Filipino people, continued to see his numbers increasing.
Inquirer reports that after casting his vote on Monday, Duterte said, "I would like to reach my hand to my opponents. Let us begin the healing of the land."
Before running for president, Duterte was able to establish peace in Davao City, an area that was once notorious for the rise of criminals including drug dealers and sexual offenders. Under Digong's reign, Davao's crime rates dramatically went down.
Recently tagged with several nicknames such as "The Punisher" and the Philippine Islands' "Dirty Harry," Duterte became the mayor of Davao in 1988. He has served the city for over 22 years. He is known in the country for building a drug rehabilitation and treatment facility where drug users and dealers who want to change their lives can be admitted.
Controversial Quotes
Over the past month, he has become a big name internationally largely due to his comments which have now been dubbed as his most famous quotes, one of which is his recollection of Jacqueline Hamill's rape. According to ABC News, he said, "There was this Australian lay minister. When they took them out, I saw her face and I thought, 'Son of a wh***. What a pity. They raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first.'"
In a November speech, Duterte appeared to curse Pope Francis, whose visit to the Philippines early in 2015 caused massive traffic jams. "It took us five hours to get from the hotel to the airport. I asked who was coming. They said it was the pope. I wanted to call him. 'Pope, son of a wh***, go home. Don't visit us anymore,'" he recalled.
Many times over the past few months, Duterte has been compared to U.S. Republican presidential candidate Trump and according to BBC News, the lawyer rejected the comparisons. "He is a bigot and I am not," he said of Trump.
Finally, there's his vow to eliminate criminals all around the country. During his final campaign rally in Manila on Saturday, Duterte proclaimed: "Forget the laws on human rights...you drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I'd kill you."
Aside from serving as Davao's mayor for more than two decades, Duterte was also elected as vice-mayor and congressman of the town.
