President Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City, Philippines

Rodrigo Roa Duterte is the first person from Mindanao to perform duties of a President. At 71 years old, he is the oldest person to hold the Philippine presidency. Rodrigo Duterte was born on March 28, 1945. He is the 16th and current President of the Philippines.

Rodrigo Duterte obtained a law degree from San Beda College of Law in 1972. He was a lawyer and a prosecutor before he became vice mayor and mayor for his City, Davao City. Duterte promised his people that he’ll do everything and use all of his efforts to make Davao City close to a national level. He’s one of the longest-serving mayors in the Philippines.

There’s only one thing comes in our mind when we hear extrajudicial killings. For sure, the controversial name Duterte suddenly pops up. According to Human Rights report, extrajudicial killings has been a systematic practice by the Davao Death Squad. However, Duterte never confirmed that his involvement about this issue. Then, since no strong evidence, that particular case and investigation have been closed.

Rodrigo won the Philippine presidential election in 2016. Notably, he defeated the other four candidates with a remarkable number of votes. During his campaign, he promised to reduce crime and combat the illegal drug trade by initiating the Philippine Drug War. Due to criticisms from human rights experts, he once threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the UN and form a new organization with China and African nations. He also declared his intention to pursue an independent foreign policy and distance the Philippines from the United States and European nations.

Due to his strong and powerful approach, the people call him now “Duterte Harry” or “The Punisher”. He said before that he can kill his own children if they take drugs.

Rodrigo Duterte declined several awards in spite of his hardword:

They nominated Rodrigo Duterte for the “World Mayor” award. However, he refused it. He said instead, “I did it not for my own glory, but because that was what the people expected me to do.”

It was not the first time that Duterte declined an award though. And also, he refused to accept the awards from American Cancer Society and the 2010 anti-smoking award in Singapore for Davao City.