Duterte sworn in as Philippine president
RODRIGO Duterte was sworn in as the Philippines’ 16th president yesterday, capping the unlikely journey of a provincial city mayor whose brash man-of-the-people style and pledges to crush crime swamped rivals in last month’s election.
After making his pledge at the presidential palace in Manila, with one hand on the Bible, Duterte delivered a speech in which he promised a “relentless” and “sustained” fight against corruption, criminality and illegal drugs.
However, he said these ills were only symptoms of a disease cutting into the moral fibre of society.
“I see the erosion of the people’s trust in our country’s leaders, the erosion of faith in our judicial system, the erosion of confidence in the capacity of our public servants to make the people’s lives better, safer and healthier,” he said.
Duterte tapped into voters’ disgust with the Philippines’ political elite and the failure of successive governments to tackle poverty and inequality, drawing comparisons with Donald Trump and the rise of assertive populists across the globe. But his defiance of convention has raised concern that economic growth in the Philippines, the fastest of Southeast Asia’s five main economies under his predecessor, could be at risk.
The political shake-up also adds to uncertainty about Manila’s position in a dispute with China over sovereignty in the South China Sea. Duterte’s new defense minister has said that crushing Islamist militants in the south of the country would take precedence over South China Sea disputes.
Duterte’s election campaign focused almost entirely on the scourges of crime, drug abuse and corruption, and voters were not deterred by repeated warnings from “the Punisher,” in profanity-peppered speeches, to have offenders killed.
In his maiden speech, the president conceded that many believe his methods “are unorthodox and verge on the illegal.” However, the 71-year-old former prosecutor said he knew right from wrong and would abide by the rule of law. Duterte was mayor for 22 years of the southern city of Davao, where, according to human rights groups, death squads have killed at least 1,400 people since 1998.
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