Philippines will now have its new chief executive as Rodrigo Duterte will take his oath before Supreme Court Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes tomorrow, June 30 to be held at the Malacañang Palace.
Rodrigo Duterte, fondly called ‘Digong’ or ‘Rody’ by most of his colleagues has been known for his vulgarity-laced speeches and tirades, his cryptic behavior towards the media and obscenity-filled attacks on the Catholic Church. In this regard, president-elect Duterte has already been splashed with a lot of criticisms even he has not yet taken his oath as the 16th president of the Republic of the Philippines. Duterte, being a man of principle, just disregarded these criticisms and reiterated that he will ‘stick’ on his beliefs and will do what he thinks is the best for the country.
But even before that, president-elect Duterte has already been known as a man of many firsts—in various ways. Let’s take a look on the life of Rody Duterte before he takes his oath.
As a teenager
Rody was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin City, Southern Leyte to Vicente G. Duterte and Soledad Roa-Duterte. His father was a lawyer and his mother was a school teacher. Rody has already been known as the tough guy of Davao even in his teenage years. The young Duterte usually roamed the streets wherein he frequently engaged a conversation with the street smarts. His mother even once described him as an adventurous kid. Unknown to some, Rody was also expelled out of Ateneo de Davao in his high school years and was sent by his father to another high school, about 60 kilometers away from Davao. When he finally graduated from high school, he went to Lyceum of the Philippines University in Manila to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and then moved to San Beda College, still in Manila, to earn a degree in law.
As a public official
Duterte eventually became Special Counsel at the City Prosecution Office in Davao City from 1977-1979; Fourth Assistant City Prosecutor from 1979-1981; Third Assistant City Prosecutor from 1981-1983; and Second Assistant City Prosecutor from 1983-1986. Duterte was appointed officer-in-charge vice mayor after the 1986 People Power Revolution. He then, ran and won in the 1988 local elections as mayor of Davao. Under his term, Davao city won the National Literacy Hall of Fame Award for being a three-time first-place winner in the Outstanding Local Government Unit, Highly Urbanized City category. The city was also rated as the ‘fourth’ ‘safest city in the world’ according to the Numbeo.com survey in 2015. He also implemented mining ban, smoking ban and 911 emergency response system under his term.
As the newly-elected president
After being undecided for months whether he will run for the presidency or not amid wide calls from the public, Rody finally announced last November 2015 that he will run for the highest position of the land. As the Election Day gets nearer, Rody’s performance on surveys also soared high; from being on the 4th and 3rd place to being the front runner in the presidential race. He still managed to maintain his wide lead among other candidates despite the criticisms that spark during his campaign due to his controversial statements.
Rody gained the trust of the Filipinos due to his good governance when he was still a mayor in Davao. His all-out war against crime and his personal choice of keeping a simple life were just a few reasons why he was favored by many.
With 16.6 million Filipinos voted for him in the last elections, incoming president Duterte now holds a bigger responsibility and accountability on his hands, a thousand times greater when he was a town mayor. Many Filipinos now are looking forward to the promises he made, one is to suppress crime and illegal drugs in 6 months.
As he said, “My government will be for the helpless, hopeless and defenseless”– words that Rody borrowed from his father, and now, words that will be kept by millions of Filipinos who are constantly longing for change.
But the big question now, “Is change really coming?”.
By Ira Yuson Cruz
