MANILA, (Reuters) – Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the Philippines’ 16th president yesterday, capping the unlikely journey of a provincial city mayor whose brash man-of-the-people style and pledges to crush crime swamped establishment rivals in last month’s election.
After making his pledge at the presidential palace in Manila, with one hand on the Bible, Duterte delivered a speech in which he promised a “relentless” and “sustained” fight against corruption, criminality and illegal drugs.
However, he said these ills were only symptoms of a disease cutting into the moral fibre of society.
“I see the erosion of the people’s trust in our country’s leaders, the erosion of faith in our judicial system, the erosion of confidence in the capacity of our public servants to make the people’s lives better, safer and healthier,” he said.
Duterte tapped into voters’ disgust with the Philippines’ political elite and the failure of successive governments to tackle poverty and inequality, drawing comparisons with Donald Trump and the rise of assertive populists across the globe.
But his defiance of convention has raised concern that economic growth in the Philippines, the fastest of Southeast Asia’s five main economies under his predecessor, could be at risk on his watch.
The political shake-up also adds to uncertainty about Manila’s position in a sometimes-bitter dispute with China over sovereignty in the South China Sea, a key global trade route.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Duterte, saying he was “willing to work with Duterte to push for improvement of relations between the two countries”.
Duterte’s new defence minister told Reuters this week that crushing Islamist militants in the south of the country would take precedence over South China Sea disputes.
Duterte’s election campaign focused almost entirely on the scourges of crime, drug abuse and corruption, and voters were not deterred by repeated warnings from “the Punisher”, in profanity-peppered speeches, to have offenders killed.
In his maiden speech, the president conceded that many believe his methods “are unorthodox and verge on the illegal”. However, the 71-year-old former prosecutor said he knew right from wrong and would abide by the rule of law.