President Duterte is “Asia’s Big Winner” – CNN

In an opinion story produced by international news network CNN, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was hailed as “Asia’s big winner” as he tops the CNN “The Winners and Losers in Asia 2016” list by winning PH presidency last May 2016.

DUTERTE IS BIG WINNER. CNN writers Curtis Chin and Jose B. Collazo hail Duterte as Asia’s big winner. Image grabbed from European Press Photo Agency

Former US ambassador to Asian Development Bank Curtis Chin and Southeast Asia analyst Jose B. Collazo wrote about “The Winners and losers in Asia” opinion story, wherein they listed personalities and trends which dominated Asia’s 2016 headlines. This year, President Duterte is part of their list being the big winner for “subsequently upending, rethinking, and reshaping the state of affairs – for good or for bad– at home and abroad.”

Chin and Collazo also pointed out Duterte’s no nonsense style when it comes to his war on crime and drugs. CNN mentioned Duterte’s 77% trust approval rating in the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey in the country.

As per the article, Duterte is said to vow to “rebalance Philippines’ ties, improve the life of the average Filipino, and to make the country a one-time economic and trade powerhouse—great again.”

Aside from Duterte, part of CNN story’s list is The US pivot to Asia tagged as the “winning worst year,” South Korean President Park Geun-hye for a “bad year” following her impeachment over an alleged corruption scandal, Asia’s webizens for having a “mixed year,” and Asia’s digital disruptors namely CEO and co-founder of Chinese ride-sharing app ‘Didi Chuxing’ Wei Cheng for a “good year.”

Source: CNN