Viewpoint

Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte was born in 1945 in the southern Philippines. His mother was a
teacher and his father, a public official, later entered politics and became the governor of Davao.
The Dutertes were well-connected to powerful clans in the south, where they still remain
popular. The younger Mr Duterte trained as a lawyer and rose to become state prosecutor,
eventually becoming mayor of Davao in 1988. Married twice, he has four children. He is officially
single, but has claimed to have several girlfriends.

Mr Duterte built his reputation fighting some of the Philippines' biggest problems, crime,
militancy and corruption in Davao during his 22-year term as mayor. Mr Duterte told the BBC he
had shot dead three men while he was mayor, confirming an earlier statement. Human Rights
Watch described him as the death squad mayor, estimating that more than 1,000 people were
killed with no legal process in the city under him. It was his track record from Davao that won
him nationwide support when he ran for president. He said in a televised debate that he would
kill his own children if they took drugs.

His 2016 campaign, the BBC's Howard Johnson wrote, was "littered with obscenities and
populist promises but light on details". He joked about the rape of an Australian missionary
murdered in a prison riot in 1989, and proposed mass executions of suspected criminals.
Self-styled as both a socialist and a reformist, he promised sweeping political changes and
greater federalism, but critics warned that without reforms at the local level, this would only hand
unchecked power to regional clans.

History Background

Around 12,000 Filipinos have died as a result of Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs" since taking
office on June 30, 2016, and most of them are urban poor. At least 2,555 of the murders have
the Philippine National Police to blame. The killings were started and encouraged by Duterte
and other top officials as part of a campaign that may have crossed the line into crimes against
humanity. According to a study by Human Rights Watch, police are fabricating evidence to
support the murders. Duterte has pledged to carry out the campaign despite rising calls for an
investigation. A defining characteristic of Duterte's 22-year term as mayor of Davao City and the
focal point of his presidential campaign was the use of extensive extrajudicial violence as a
crime solution.

There are claims that the government is assassinating, imprisoning, or threatening lawmakers
as part of the War on Drugs. Since July 2016, twelve mayors have been assassinated and four
of the victims were on the government's list of "narco-politicians". Another former representative
was assassinated for allegedly "coddling" drug lords. The government's list of "narco-politicians"
included 96 people as of July 2018. The use of the list by the government to excuse the killing of
opposition politicians has not yet been confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt. Nonetheless, the
arrest of opposition politicians like Senator Leila De Lima, who has been dubbed "the mother of
all drug lords," has been justified by the War on Drugs. The criminal allegations brought against
De Lima have been condemned as "politically motivated" by organizations including Amnesty
International. According to Human Rights Watch, the War on Drugs has been used to intimidate
"politicians, especially in the provinces, who are then forced to toe Duterte's line". This has
allowed the state to justify the targeting and assassination of politicians as well as the
"cleansing" of the Philippine security forces under the guise of an ongoing campaign that has
the support and encouragement of the government.