1. Rodrigo Duterte was elected the 16th president of the Philippines in May 2016.
2. Since taking office, he has led a violent anti-drug crackdown, and more than 7,000 have reportedly been killed.
3. Duterte has compared himself to Adolf Hitler and mused about killing millions of drug addicts.
4. Before taking office, Duterte allegedly killed a government agent with an Uzi submachine gun. He’s admitted to, early in his career, throwing a Chinese rape and murder suspect out of a helicopter.
5. The Philippines has had a tense relationship with the United States under Duterte, and he even referred to former President Barack Obama as a ” son of a whore,” although he later apologized for the comment.
6. During his campaign, Duterte was compared to then-Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump, who won the U.S. presidential election in November 2016.
7. In 1988, Duterte became the mayor of Davao City, the third most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines, where he was known as ” the Punisher.” He has been accused of links to the Davao Death Squad, which was responsible for more than 1,000 extrajudicial killings in the 1990s.
8. Duterte has said that journalists aren’t ” exempted from assassination.” The Philippines is considered to be one of the most hostile environments for journalists in the world.
9. Duterte has pushed to better relations with China, a country with whom the Philippines has disputed territory claims in the South China Sea.
10. Efforts to impeach Duterte arose within a year of his taking office.
More from U.S. News
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Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs Helps Philippines Seize $120 Million Worth of Meth
Rodrigo Duterte Calls American Envoys in Philippines Spies
10 Things to Know About Rodrigo Duterte originally appeared on usnews.com
