Former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is set to become the next president of the Philippines, according to early exit polls. While the poll numbers are not official, many experts believe that the count is merely a formality as Duterte's closest rival, Sen. Grace Poe, conceded to the former mayor late last night.
Duterte has been well known in the Philippine political scene since the late 1980's where he won the mayoral position in Davao, a city known for being plagued by drug gangs and pushers. It was here where the former mayor gained the nickname "Duterte Harry" or "The Punisher," the former being a play on the character "Dirty Harry" played by Clint Eastwood, CCN Philippines reports.
While it has never been fully confirmed that Duterte was behind the Davao Death Squads which purged the city of much of its drug pushers, he has been credited with reforming the city into one of the safest places in the world, BBC states. In a recent poll Davao ranked amongst the top 10 safest cities in the world behind such cities as Singapore and Seoul, South Korea.
However, Duterte has been running on the platform that he wants to rid the country of the graft and corruption that has been long plaguing it. The presidential hopeful has also claimed that he will clean the Philippines of the drug cartels similarly to what he did in Davao, according to Time.
The road to the presidency was not an easy one however, as many of Duterte's opponents in the race did what they could to stifle his road to Malacañang. Some of his opponents have called out that Duterte has little filters when it comes to what he says. There are some who compare his style of politics to that of United States Presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
But as the poll numbers show an ever widening gap between the former mayor and his opponents, it's quite clear that the Filipino people have spoken. Only time will tell if the changes that Rodrigo Duterte plans for the Philippines will change the country for the good or not.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
