Who is he?
Rodrigo Duterte is the mayor of Davao city in the southern Philippines, a position he has held off-and-on for 21 years. Under Duterte’s tenure, Davao went from one of the Philippines’ least safe cities to one of the safest in the world. Duterte has been criticized by rights groups for his implicit support of the so-called “Davao Death Squads,” whose extrajudicial killings of more than 1,000 petty criminals contributed to the stunning drop in the city’s crime rate. When asked how he deals with the city’s criminals, Duterte said his policy is to “kill them all.”
Rodrigo Duterte speaking at a public event in Davao City, Philippines. Source: Wikimedia, used under a creative commons license.
Why is he in the news?
Duterte has repeatedly been discussed as a candidate for the 2016 presidential elections, and in June polled third behind Senator Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay in a Pulse Asia survey. Duterte has said he is not running, but he recently discussed his hypothetical first acts as president, undertook a nationwide campaign-like tour, and has made high-profile media appearances. All of this has kept alive expectations that he actually is planning a run. Many close to Duterte maintain he is running, including the organizer of a forum at which the mayor said he was not, and Duterte’s own chief of staff, who recently said the mayor is running for “higher office.”
What can we expect from him?
Duterte’s straightforward style and hardline positions have earned him respect from many Filipinos fed up with the prevalence of crime in the country, and he enjoys a consistently good showing in presidential polls. But he has also drawn the ire of the human rights community as well as many who find his notion of establishing a new federal system unrealistic.
In an August 11 speech, Duterte described his platform “for the sake of argument,” saying he would dissolve Congress, decentralize power, impose the death penalty for drug crimes, and work to develop poverty-stricken Mindanao. On the social front, Duterte is the first among the top potential presidential candidates to announce his support for same-sex marriage in the Catholic-majority Philippines.
Should Duterte run for president, he will do so under the PDP-Laban party, which is not affiliated with either President Aquino’s coalition led by the Liberal Party or with Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance party. He has two months to announce a bid before the October deadline.
