The Philippines has its own version of Donald Trump, and he’s campaigning as hard for the presidency of the Philippines as is Trump in the U.S. He’s shouting out controversial charges and claims about as often as Trump, and he’s about the same age.
The difference is that Rodrigo Duterte, the 70-year-old mayor of Davao, the country’s fourth largest city and largest on the strife-torn large southern island of Mindanao, is a long-time politico with a reputation for brutality whereas Trump is a real estate tycoon whose tough talk may or may not translate into deeds. While Trump was building luxury hotels, apartments and casinos, Duterte was attacking crime in “Murder City” by attacking and killing criminals.
Davao City Mayor and Presidential Candidate Rodrigo Duterte raising a clenched fist during his campaign sortie north of Manila. (NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)
“Am I the death squad,” he asked rhetorically on a TV talk show. “That is true.” Ranking Davao the world’s “ninth safest city” in a speech, he hurled more questions. “How do you think I did it? How did I reach that title among the world’s safest cities? Kill them all.” Indeed, during his years as mayor, more than 1,000 people have died in vigilante killings.
Duterte’s brazen boasts and threats go to the gut instincts of a populace fed up with murders, drugs, and corruption while Trump wins popularity by promising to “make America great again” in a war against enemies at home and abroad. Human rights crusaders may decry Duterte on the basis of both his record and his remarks, but he remains undeterred in the face of attacks from activists, women’s groups, national leaders – all those who see him as trampling over propriety, common sense, basic law and taste.
He’s also appealing to nationalist fervor by breathing defiance against the United States and Australia, with which he has said he would be glad to “sever” ties if they persist in “interfering” in the run-up to the election on May 9.
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