Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo Roa Duterte (born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He served as mayor of Davao City for three non-consecutive terms between 1988 and 2016. Duterte is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and the oldest person to assume office, beginning his term at age 71.^[1][2]

Early years

Rodrigo Roa Duterte was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin, Leyte. His father was Vicente Gonzales Duterte (1911–1968), a Cebuano lawyer, and his mother, Soledad Gonzales Roa (1916–2012), was a schoolteacher from Cabadbaran, Agusan and a civic leader, of Chinese and Spanish mestizo descent. Duterte has said that his grandfather was Chinese and hailed from Xiamen in Fujian, China.^[1]

Education and early law career

Duterte went to Laboon Elementary School in Maasin for a year. He spent his remaining elementary days at Santa Ana Elementary School in Davao City, where he completed his primary education in 1956. He finished his secondary education in the High School Department of Holy Cross College of Digos (now Cor Jesu College) in Digos, Davao province, after being expelled twice from previous schools, including one in the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) High School due to misconduct.^[1]

Sexual abuse claims

Duterte has claimed he was sexually abused by a priest when he was a minor. After he was challenged by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and AdDU officials to name the priest and file a case against him, Duterte then revealed the priest's name as Mark Falvey (died 1975). The Jesuits of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines confirmed that according to press reports in the United States, in May 2007, the Society of Jesus agreed to a tentative payout of US$16 million to settle claims that Falvey sexually abused at least nine children in Los Angeles from 1959 to 1975.^[1]

Shooting of student at law school

Duterte stated at a rally in April 2016 that he shot a fellow student who had bullied him about his Visayan origin as well as other students of the same ethnicity, while at San Beda law college. He said, "But the truth is, I'm used to shooting people. When we were about to graduate from San Beda, I shot a person." Duterte said that he shot the student in a corridor at the college when the said student called him names again.^[1]

Political career in Davao City

After the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, Duterte was appointed officer-in-charge vice mayor of Davao City by President Corazon Aquino. In the 1988 local elections, he ran for mayor under Lakas ng Dabaw, a local political alliance, defeating former OIC Mayor Zafiro Respicio by a narrow margin of 6,000 votes.^[1]

Law and order

During Duterte's tenure as mayor, Davao City experienced economic boom and a significant decrease in crime from being a conflict-ridden area between communists and right-wing groups during the 1970s and 1980s, and is constantly rated as among the safest in the country. The city also ranks high in the world according to crowdsourced survey site Numbeo, a narrative that gained currency in the national media, creating a widespread public perception that has been a significant factor in establishing support for his nationwide drug policy. The city was also awarded "Most Child-Friendly City for Highly-Urbanized Category" in 1998, 1999, 2013 and 2014.^[1]

Federalism advocacy

In September 2014, Duterte and former mayors and governors, calling themselves the Mindanao Council of Leaders, advocated for a federalist government. A month later, Duterte attended an event sponsored by the Federal Movement for a Better Philippines in Cebu City.^[1]

2016 presidential campaign

Prospects of Duterte running for president in the 2016 elections began in February 2015, during which Duterte, then outgoing Mayor of Davao City, re-entered the PDP-Laban party, who courted him to run for president. A month later, Duterte emerged as a preferred presidential candidate in a Pulse Asia poll; tied with Manila mayor and former president Joseph Estrada, Duterte ranked third behind Senator Grace Poe and frontrunner, Vice President Jejomar Binay.^[1]

Alleged involvement with Davao Death Squad

Duterte has been linked by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to extrajudicial killings of over 1,400 alleged criminals and street children by vigilante death squads.^[1]