Duterte marks 100 days in office, as his popularity continues to soar in the Philippines
Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines marks 100 days in office as his popularity in the country continues to soar.
Filipinos voted for their 16th president on June 30, who has attracted controversy for his vicious drug war and his undiplomatic comments.
Before his presidency Mr Duterte was among the longest-serving mayors in the country, spending more than twenty-two years in office.
The hallmark of his administration has been an unfaltering crackdown on drug dealers, which he once compared to the Holocaust.
“Hitler massacred three million Jews… there’s three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he said.
Hitler actually slaughtered more than six million Jews, and recent figures show that the number of drug users in the Philippines is 1.8 million, which is 1.8% of the total population.
President Duterte has urged civilians and the police to conduct extra-judicial killings of suspects in war that has led to the killing of more than 3,600 people since he took office one hundred days ago.
The contentious policy caused outrage among some human rights groups and foreign governments.
Despite the international criticism, polls show that his popularity is soaring in the Philippines.
According to the latest survey, 76 per cent of the Filipinos questioned nationwide expressed satisfaction with Duterte’s performance, while only one in ten were dissatisfied.
Thelma Donato, 58-year-old Supreme Court clerk in the Philippines says that people support him because he has dealt with the drug lords.
‘The biggest problem in the Philippines is drugs. There are many crimes because of the drug problem we have, and Duterte tackles them very well because he is decisive.
“I like him because he is a strong president. He dealt with the drug lords but he is very tactless. He talks without thinking and he makes his own decisions.
“He isn’t a dictator in the words he uses, but in the way he acts. “
