The new Philippine president is waging a tough drug war, pushing economic growth domestically and greater pragmatism in foreign policy that could contribute to Southeast Asia’s future. Internationally, Rodrigo Duterte, the new president of the Philippines, has been portrayed as a “dangerous populist”. That’s a gross caricature. In the elections, he leaned on the nationalistic, social-democratic PDP-Laban (lit. Philippine Democratic Party-People’s Power). He is a tough pragmatic realist who focuses on actions and results, not talks and formalities. After two decades as Mayor of Davao, the country’s second-largest city, Duterte won the elections with a tough stand on crime. He has a track record. When he took over in Davao in the 80s, it was regarded as a dangerous economic backwater. Today, the city is booming and crime is down. Now he would like to “davao” the nation. True, Duterte’s macho rhetoric tends to blur the substance of his actions. Sheer authority earns his respect. Allegedly molested by a priest as a boy, he has been vocal for the rights of women, and ethnic minorities, including Muslims. He wants to unleash inclusive growth in the Philippines. He supports the US-Philippine alliance, but would lean more toward China and does not believe Washington would honor its defense obligations. With a pace of a whirlwind, Duterte seeks to transform the Philippines for the better – or perish in the process of doing so. http://www.worldfinancialreview.com/?p=8100#.V9NDmAuY4ns.facebook
And where are these crime stats? What happened to the police chief for releasing the actual crime data during Daturd's election? I call BS since his speeches are not done in Japanese. And "defense obligations" sounds a whole lot like they want the US to do ALL of the defending for them. They have had more than a half century to build their country without having to worry about maintaining a functional military, they are basically operating the country without any concern over defending it....yet look what they have managed to accomplish. They kick the US out of the country, China starts claiming disputed islands as their own....and now the Philippines wants to say that the US isn't doing enough to defend their territory. Everyone's fault but theirs.
