Rodrigo Duterte as a leader
The presidency is all but official. Four out of the five candidates have conceded to the now-presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte. When the votes for president are canvassed on May 25, none of that will matter because there’s no one left to challenge Duterte.
CHANGE IS COMING. These words echoed throughout his campaign, and now, he gets a crack at turning our country around. (Photo courtesy of Keith Kristoffer Bacongco via Wikimedia Commons).
Most people have only seen the tough-talking Davao City Mayor from what he has shown in his sorties. Only the citizens of Davao City know what Rody Duterte is like as a leader.
Here are four things that have and would define his leadership when he assumes office on June 30:
1. Hands-on. Numerous reports have circulated about Duterte’s hands-on style of leadership. He has been seen as a cab driver in his own city of Davao to know the situation of his city at night. He reportedly forced a tourist to swallow a cigarette butt at gunpoint. The man is very hands-on in protecting his city and upholding the law. If the words of his spokesperson are to be believed, he will be the same leader for our country.
2. Unconventional. The presumptive president’s style of leadership is a mixed bag. He’s hard yet soft at the same time. The way he moves his people is seen by some as unconventional, but preferred by others as it is more direct. He cares for women (Davao City Women’s Development Code), children, and the members of the LGBT and indigenous communities (Anti-Discrimination Ordinance). Yet we all know his stand against criminals, even going on record to say he will reinstate the death penalty for heinous crimes.
3. Decisive. Apart from his indecisiveness on whether or not he should run for president, the man dubbed by TIME Magazine as “The Punisher” is probably the most decisive president we have had in the last 18 years. A lot of Davao City’s projects were from his term as mayor. The most prominent, Davao City’s Central 911, is seen as a classic example of his decisiveness as well as his political will. He reportedly threatened to blow up cell sites of top telcos Globe and Smart if they did not give him the phone number 911 for the city’s emergency service.
4. Socialism. Duterte has openly declared that he is a socialist. He’s called the adage “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” as cliché, citing no president has done anything concrete to close the gap between the rich and the poor. He openly supports the Communist Party of the Philippines’ concerns, even going to such lengths as offering them cabinet posts. He doesn’t like the fact that government officials can afford so much when their people can afford so little, hence his eight-point economic agenda.
These are just some of the traits he displayed in his interview with Rappler. Will we see these traits manifest in his presidency? From what we have seen so far, he certainly will.
What do you think? Give us your thoughts on Duterte as a leader by leaving a comment below.
Source: GMA News and Public Affairs YouTube account, Inquirer.net, CNN Philippines, Rappler, ABS-CBN News
