Psychopath and serial killer. Those are the labels they have given Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. A lot of Filipinos support the president, but few Filipinos and almost the whole world disagree with his decisions.
The news media worldwide have depicted a monstrous leader who is power hungry and kills for fun. Even some of his supporters on social media are called trolls. Despite the bad publicity he gets from the whole world, the Philippine nation has his back and is ready to fight for its president.
If he is a so-called serial killer and psychopath, why do Filipinos support their president?
The Philippines is a third-world country with about 100 million people, and 83 percent of this population trusts and approves of the president. Although he did not want to run for president, he heard the nation’s pleas and complied.
I will try my best to explain to the privileged people of the world why most Filipinos support their president despite what the media and the rest of the world think.
I see Duterte as a father of the country. He is like a parent or guardian who is trying to help his child be a better person.
Let’s imagine the Philippines as a teenager who has been involved with drugs for a long time, a completely messed-up child brought up by different guardians.
These guardians have taken advantage of the teenager; they condone the drug use of the teenager secretly and profit from it. After realizing what the guardians were doing, the teenager is now seeking help and wants to change its corrupted ways.
Duterte is a former mayor who served multiple terms and was also a prosecutor of Davao City. The city used to be crawling with crime and drugs, but since his term as its mayor, Davao is now one of the safest places in the Philippines.
That’s because Duterte is strict on following the law. Not only do the residents follow the law, but implement the laws on the tourists, too.
Davao has state-of-the-art hospitals available for everyone, not just those who can’t afford it. It is the only place in the Philippines with a 911 emergency hotline available.
Strict rules regarding attire in the city, littering, traffic, smoking areas, karaoke and curfew are rules that every resident abides by to make the city safe and great.
The former mayor checked whether government employees were doing their job.
One example of this was disguising himself as a motorist and intentionally breaking traffic laws to check if the people on duty were doing their job. Even all the drug addicts in the city have been put in rehab, and their families have been given homes and jobs.
This is what the nation has seen and these are the type of changes they want in the country. This is why most Filipinos trust him, because they are hoping he can change the country the way he changed his city.
