Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Roa Duterte (also known by his nicknames Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD) was the President of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He has been compared to fellow authoritarian populist lunatics Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro for inappropriate remarks and being an outright dickhead. Unlike Trump, who only thought he could get away with killing someone in public, Duterte has actually repeatedly bragged of killing people he claimed were rapists and kidnappers. This is an example of how a politician plays the card. This is how Duterte's Human Rights records while he was the mayor of Davao came under the microscope.Duterte confirms killing 3 rapist-kidnappers by Kathlyn dela Cruz (Posted at 09 Dec 2015 08:27 PM | Updated as of 10 Dec 2015 01:31 AM) ABS-CBNnews.comPhilippines: Duterte confirms he personally killed three men (16 December 2016) BBC. Philippines Leader Duterte: I Threw Rape Suspect From Helicopter, Would Do it Again (29 December 2016) NBC News. 
==The Mad Dog of Davao==
During Duterte's tenure as mayor of Davao (1988-1998, 2001-2010, 2013-2016), he was allegedly complicit with the Davao Death Squad which operated from around 1993 onwards. In 2009, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations and Human Rights Watch accused Duterte of being supportive of the death squad.Promotion And Protection Of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social And Cultural Rights, Including The Right To Development A/HRC/11/2/Add.8 (29 April 2009) UN General Assembly of the Human Rights Council"You Can Die Any Time": Death Squad Killings in Mindanao (2009) Human Rights Watch.
He is known for his War on Drugs as soon as he became President. He has often killed anyone who does drugs because apparently doing drugs is way worse than murdering people. Ironically, there has been speculation that Duterte himself is a drug kingpin, and has been using the whole "War on Drugs" stunt as a front to cover up his (alleged) involvement in the Mindanao underworld,Conversations with Arturo Lascañas, Part 1: ‘Duterte is the lord of all drug lords in southern Philippines’ on top of his alleged connections with offshore gaming and online scam hubs run by foreigners. He has also been quite sexist and likes bragging about raping womenDuterte jokes that his soldiers can rape women under martial law in the Philippines by Avi Selk (May 27, 2017) The Washington Post. and otherwise attacking women's genitals.Duterte: Shoot female rebels in their genitals. Rights groups slam Philippine president for the latest in a series of derogatory and demeaning comments about women. by Ted Regencia (12 Feb 2018) Al Jazeera. Duterte also uses homophobic slurs, but it's okay because he used to be gayDavid Gee, "Mass-Murdering Philippines President Says He'Cured' Himself of Being Gay," Friendly Atheist, June 1, 2019. Accessed July 14, 2019., but Duterte's homophobia is not a more conservative position than that of mainstream Filipino politicians, who are heavily Catholic. Indeed, Duterte has made rather conservative and harsh remarks on LGBTQ+ issues, but by Philippine standards, which are very conservative in actual policy, he is implementing a somewhat liberal LGBT policy.Duterte meets transgender Gretchen Diez (August 20, 2019) Duterte, Philippines Holds Invitation Event for LGBT at Presidential Palace (2019-12-19, In Korean) Yonhap News
Crimes against humanity aside, Duterte has made many inflammatory statements in public: attacks against Pope Francis (the "son of a whore", which is also how he referred to Obama),Rodrigo Duterte Wants to Apologize to Pope Francis for Calling Him a 'Son of a Whore' by Nash (Jenkins May 13, 2016) Time. the Catholic Church ("full of shit"),Duterte: Catholic Church 'full of shit' by Leila B. Salaverria (07:48 PM January 24, 2017) Philippine Daily Inquirer. and a rape "joke",Leading Philippine presidential contender: Gang rape victim ‘so beautiful’ he wishes he had 'been first' by Travis M. Andrews (April 18, 2016) The Washington Post. none of which have seemed to sway public opinion of him.Rodrigo Duterte: Philippine president attacks Catholic Church, calls God 'stupid' by Kristine Phillips (July 19, 2018) The Washington Post. The last straw may have been Duterte's insulting God:
Proving that he is unable to take even simple criticism, in 2020 Duterte was accused of being complicit in, if not outright responsible for, the broadcast shutdown of ABS-CBN, a major television network in the country, citing allegedly biased and unfavorable news coverage against Duterte beginning with his campaign in the 2016 Philippine presidential election among other things.Philippines' top broadcaster ordered off air Prior to the network's shutdown, he also sought to have independent news site Rappler suppressed over its exposes against Duterte's regime.Duterte's Media War in the Philippines
While he is often called the "Filipino Trump," which makes him sound like a reactionary, he self-identifies as a leftist. In fact, PDP–Laban, his (current) personal party, is also a democratic socialist and left-wing populist party.[https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1021283https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/12/05/1765508/pdp-laban-accepting-new-members-until-february-2018https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/405074https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/09/08/news/headlines/2-chiong-rape-slay-convicts-back-in-jail/612868/https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/10/duterte-us/505001/ In other words, he is a very strange politician whose extreme right-wing tendencies and leftist populist aspects coexist.
And like Trump, one columnist opined that Duterte exhibited a reality distortion field especially during his campaign, where his charisma and appeal to the masses–who were understandably anxious for change in the country–prevailed over both his human rights abuses and obscene remarks towards people and organizations, including but not limited to the Roman Catholic Church and even God himself, never mind the fact that the Philippines is majority Catholic.Duterte has his own 'reality distortion field
== Post-Malacañang ==
In 2022, the International Criminal Court launched an investigation on Duterte over human rights violations during the drug war. "International Criminal Court Will Investigate Duterte Over Drug War," Felipe Villamor, New York Times In response, Duterte petulantly withdrew the Philippines from the ICC, but prosecutors said he cannot stop the probe no matter what."ICC prosecutor: Probe of Duterte can’t be stopped," Global Nation Inquirer As he was term-limited, Duterte might very well be indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity as an ex-president. Duterte himself hinted that he may be arrested by the ICC any time for his atrocities.Rodrigo Duterte gets info he may be arrested at any time As of November 2024 former President Duterte faces multiple congressional hearings related to allegations of crimes against humanity. [https://apnews.com/article/71de48e00c77c70ce37cf67146a94d12. 
Philippines says it will cooperate if ICC Seeks Duterte’s custody of Drug Killings] Gomez, Jim, ‘’Associated Press’’, 13 November 2024..
Duterte was succeeded by , son of the country's former dictator. Much to Duterte's chagrin, Marcos picked his daughter Sara Duterte as running mate. (Duterte was planning to make her his own political heir.) As Marcos had the support of almost the entire political establishment (despite running as a populist), Duterte did not publicly object to his campaign. However, as differences between the two have become more clear, their rivalry has gone public, and they have even accused each other of being drug addicts.Philippines: Is the unstoppable Marcos-Duterte alliance headed for divorce? BBC, 7 May 2024. Indeed, Sara proved to be a thorn on Marcos's side, as the younger Duterte have publicly spoke out her objections towards Marcos Jr.'s presidency, particularly Bongbong's falling out with both his erstwhile ally Apollo Quiboloy–who staunchly endorsed him in the 2022 presidential election yet ended up somehow betraying Marcos due in part to a fake news item made against one of Bongbong's relatives–and the Duterte clan in general. In a rally held during the anniversary of Quiboloy's sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), Sara apologised to members of the KOJC of whom she wooed into voting for Bongbong Marcos and lashed out at law enforcement for perceived excessive force during the raids at the Quiboloy estate; the irony is not lost when the Dutertes were called out for crying human rights abuses over their friend and spiritual adviser even when they themselves have been accused of human rights abuses to begin with.
===Like father, like daughter===
In November 2024 the current Vice President of the Philippines and daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, Sara Duterte ranted about assassinating the current president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr.Philippine police file criminal complaints against Sara Duterte and her security aides 27 November 2024, Associated Press. This is while the father and daughter power duo were facing a congressional investigation over corruption and human rights violations.Sara Duterte again skirts questions on confidential funds use 27 November 2024, Rappler. As Duterte sparks fireworks in the House, a mother weeps, 14 November 2024, Rappler.
The assassination threat Sara Duterte is accused of having given points in two directions: one is to prevent the ICC from getting Rodrigo Duterte after Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration agreed to cooperate with the ICC to prosecute the former President. The other one is related to a corruption investigation Sara Duterte herself is involved in after one of her staff members was ordered to be detained in relation to the congressional hearing over the Vice President misusing funds for questionable reasons. As of December 2024, Congress has been petitioned to impeach Duterte,Sara Duterte: ‘If I get impeached, then that’s my end’ 28 November 2024, Rappler.Philippine groups seek impeachment of Vice President Duterte, 2 December 2024, Reuters. More impeachment complaints have been filed since that petition, and a hearing is scheduled to take place in 2025.Third impeachment complaint vs. VP Sara Duterte filed in House 19 December 2024, Philippine News Agency.. According to a 2025 poll 4 in 10 Filipino voters are in favor for Sara Duterte to be impeached. This comes as more complaints are directed at both Sara and Rodrigo Duterte. 4 in 10 Filipinos favor Sara Duterte’s impeachment – SWS 8 January 2025, Rappler. As of February 2025 The Philippine House of Representatives has 215 out of 306 votes to have an impeachment trial in the senate. Philippine Congress paves way for impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, 5 February 2025, Reuters. Philippines feud escalates as lawmakers vote to impeach vice-president 5 February 2025, BBC News.
=== Stopped clock? Or maybe not... ===
In spite of all the lunacy he exhibited both pre-and-post presidency, Duterte still somehow felt that Vladimir Putin, of whom he refers to as a "friend" and an "idol", has needlessly crossed the line with his so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine in 2022. He publicly admits having people killed in his bloody campaign against criminals and drug fiends, yet claims to have drawn the line with the idea of invading Ukraine as innocent civilians are caught in the conflict. The irony is not lost as Duterte's own special operation has also needlessly claimed the lives of otherwise innocent civilians lumped together with drug dealers, due process be damned.
== See also ==
*Ba'ath Party
*Aleksander Dugin
*Left-wing fascism
*Populism
*Apollo Quiboloy, one of Duterte's best buddies
*Joseph Stalin
*Third Position
*Vladimir Putin
*Donald Trump
*Najib Razak
*Prabowo Subianto
==References==
Category:Anti-Catholicism
Category:Antisemites
Category:Anti-Western
Category:Asian politicians
Category:Chickenhawks
Category:Christians
Category:Completely heterosexual
Category:Crimes against humanity
Category:Deists
Category:Fascists
Category:Government incompetence
Category:Homophobes
Category:Lawyers
Category:Left-wing nationalism
Category:Leftists who turned right with age
Category:Living people
Category:Machismo
Category:Philippines
Category:Rape
Category:Sexists
Category:Socialists
Category:Shysters
Category:Vigilantes