Rodrigo Duterte Sworn In As Philippines President
MEP: Rodrigo Duterte the long-serving mayor of Davao City in the southern Philippines, has been sworn in as president on Thursday in Manila after a landslide election victory in May.
Duterte pledged to wipe out criminals, promising a “bloody war” on crime and action on corruption.
Duterte, 71, won the presidential election in May by 16 million votes, or about 38%, an unassailable lead that forced his three opponents to throw in the towel one after the other.
Duterte has been announced as the 16th president of the Philippines in front of an audience of 600 guests and millions more watching on television and online.
He advocates the killing of suspected lawbreakers and has publicly backed vigilante death squads estimated to have killed over 1,000 people in Davao.
“Kill them all,” Mr. Duterte told a rally in March, referring to criminals and suspects. “When I become president I’ll order the police and the military to find these people and kill them.” During the campaign, Mr. Duterte said 100,000 Filipinos would die during the coming purge.
“True change is the mandate of my government,” Duterte said in his inaugural speech.
“I was elected as president to serve the entire country. I serve everyone. But not only one.”
The president told police in speeches during his campaign that he will protect them from prosecution, and thumbed his nose at rights advocates.
On the international front, despite his having bombastically promised to drive a jet-ski to a contested island in the South China Sea, relations between the Philippines and China could be about to improve.
Mr Duterte has indicated that despite differences, and an upcoming ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration, he is ready for a more pragmatic, development-focused relationship with the Chinese.
“His wardrobe is the least of the President’s concern, but he went to fit his barong (formal shirt). He is raring to start with work right after the inauguration,” according to Martin Andanar, whom he has appointed as one of his spokesmen.
