Rodrigo Duterte ends his first year as Philippine president on Friday as a hugely popular leader.
The 72-year-old has upended decades of foreign policy, steering away from traditional ally the United States while bringing the Philippines closer to China and Russia.
An overwhelming majority of Filipinos support him, according to a series of surveys by pollsters over the past 12 months, with the most recent one showing 75 percent were satisfied with his administration’s performance.
“People like the man,” Ricardo Abad, head of sociology and anthropology at Ateneo University in Manila, told AFP, referring to Duterte’s decisive leadership style.
“People may disagree with his policies, or are maybe ambivalent towards them, but because they like him, people will tend to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
Many Filipinos look past the crass talk and see a down-to-earth, anti-establishment figure who empathizes with their struggles and is willing to take extreme actions to make dramatic change across all sectors of society.
“He brought an entirely new style of leadership, which people probably thought we needed,” Edmund Tayao, a political science professor at the University of Santo Tomas, told AFP.
No sugarcoating
In his inauguration speech, Duterte typically sought not to sugarcoat his plans for the Philippines.
“The ride will be rough. But come join me just the same,” Duterte said.
Duterte had made the drug war the top focus of his presidency until May 23, when gunmen rampaged through the southern city of Marawi flying black flags of the Islamic State group.
He immediately imposed martial law across Mindanao to quell what he said was an IS bid to establish a local caliphate.
Super majority
Another example of Duterte’s popularity is his “super majority” in the lower house of congress, where there are just seven opposition members in the 296-member chamber.
Even one of the opposition lawmakers, Edcel Lagman, offered grudging praise this week.
“Despite his unpresidential demeanor, profane language, abusive rhetoric and flawed policy statements, President Rodrigo Duterte, in his own inscrutable way, has held the nation together,” he said. (Karl Malakunas, Agence France Presse)
