Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte (born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong,[6] is the 16th President

of the Philippines, in office since 2016.[7][8][9] He is the first Mindanaoan to hold the office, and the
fourth of Visayan descent.[10]
Duterte was among the longest-serving mayors in the Philippines and was Mayor of Davao City,
a highly urbanized city on Mindanao island, for seven terms, totalling more than 22 years. A lawyer
and former prosecutor, he has also served as vice-mayor and as congressman for the city.
Duterte's political success has been aided by his vocal support for the extrajudicial killing of drug
users and criminals.[11] Human rights groups have documented over 1,400 killings allegedly by
vigilante groups occurring in Davao between 1998 and May 2016; the victims were mainly drug
users, petty criminals and street children.[12] Duterte denied any involvement in the said vigilante
groups.[13] In a January 2016 decision by the Office of the Ombudsman on the investigation
conducted by the Commission on Human Rights on the alleged death squad in Davao between 2005
and 2009, the Ombudsman found no evidence to support "the killings attributed or attributable to
the Davao Death Squad, much less the involvement of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte" to said acts. [14]
On May 9, 2016, Duterte won the Philippine presidential election, garnering 16,601,997 votes
(39.01% of total votes cast, and 6.6 million votes ahead of closest rival Mar Roxas).[15] His domestic
policy has focused on combating illegal drug trade by initiating thePhilippine Drug War. Following
criticism from United Nations human rights experts that extrajudicial killings had increased since the
election, he threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the UN and form a new organization
with China and African nations.[16] His administration has also vowed to pursue an "independent
foreign policy" that would reject any meddling by foreign governments. [17