Duterte was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin. His father was Vicente G. Duterte (1911–1968), a Cebuano lawyer, and his mother, Soledad Duterte (née Roa; 1916–2012), was a school teacher from Cabadbaran, Agusan and a civic leader of Maranao descent. Duterte has said that his grandfather was Chinese who hailed from Xiamen in Fujian, China. Duterte’s father was mayor of Danao, Cebu, and subsequently the provincial governor of (the then-undivided) Davao province. Rodrigo’s cousin Ronald was mayor of Cebu City from 1983 to 1986. Ronald’s father, Ramon Duterte, also held the position from 1957 to 1959. The Dutertes consider the Cebu-based political families of the Durano and the Almendras clan as relatives. Duterte also has relatives from the Roa clan in Leyte through his mother’s side. Duterte’s family lived in Maasin, and in his father’s hometown in Danao, until he was four years old. The Dutertes initially moved to Mindanao in 1948 but still went back and forth to the Visayas until 1949. They finally settled in the Davao Region in 1950. Vicente worked as a lawyer engaged in private practice. Soledad worked as a teacher until 1952 when Vicente entered politics.

Duterte went to Laboon Elementary School in Maasin, for a year. He spent his remaining elementary days at Santa Ana Elementary School in Davao City, where he graduated in 1956. He finished his secondary education in the High School Department of the then-Holy Cross College of Digos (now Cor Jesu College) in today’s city of Digos in the now-defunct Davao province, after being expelled twice from previous schools, including one in the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) High School due to misconduct. He graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at the Lyceum of the Philippines in Manila. He obtained a law degree from San Beda College of Law in 1972. In the same year, he passed the bar exam. Duterte eventually became a Special Counsel at the City Prosecution Office in Davao City from 1977 to 1979, Fourth Assistant City Prosecutor from 1979 to 1981, Third Assistant City Prosecutor from 1981 to 1983, and Second Assistant City Prosecutor from 1983 to 1986.

After the 1986 People Power Revolution, Duterte was appointed officer-in-charge vice mayor by president Corazon Aquino. In 1988, he ran for mayor and won, serving until 1998. He set a precedent by designating deputy mayors that represented the Lumad and Moro peoples in the city government, which was later copied in other parts of the Philippines. In 1998, because he was term-limited to run again for mayor, he ran for the House of Representatives and won as Congressman of the 1st District of Davao City (under the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino coalition). In 2001, he ran again for mayor of Davao and was elected for a fourth term. He was re-elected in 2004 and in 2007.

In 1995, after Flor Contemplacion, a Filipina, was executed in Singapore after confessing to a double murder, Duterte allegedly burned a flag of Singapore (though this claim was later denied) and joined 1,000 employees of Davao City in protest.

Duterte has been publicly very open about his infidelity and philandering while married to Zimmerman and cited it as the reason for his failed first marriage when asked in interviews. In 1998, Zimmerman filed a petition in the Regional Trial Court in Pasig to nullify her marriage. Duterte never appeared in court and did not contest Zimmerman’s petition. Two years later, the court decided in her favor, ending the 27-year marriage of Duterte and Zimmerman. Duterte and Zimmerman have been on good terms in recent years with Zimmerman stating, “Yes, [Rodrigo] is really a very good leader. That is all he is. But when it comes to family, he is not capable of taking care of it.” In 2001, Zimmerman eventually ran for a seat on the city council but lost. Duterte and Zimmerman are said to have patched things up and appear to be civil to each other, 15 years after their marriage was declared null and void. Zimmerman eventually joined the campaign trail for Duterte’s presidential candidacy in early 2016 called Byaheng Du30 in which she would travel by bus to major cities together with her daughter Sara and a number of delegates.

A psychological assessment of Duterte was commissioned by Dr. Natividad Dayan during Duterte’s marriage annulment to Elizabeth Zimmerman in July 1998. The result was that Duterte (then Davao City mayor) was found to have “antisocial narcissistic personality disorder”, exemplified by “gross indifference, insensitivity and self-centeredness”, and a “grandiose sense of self-entitlement and manipulative behaviours”. According to the assessment, he had a “pervasive tendency to demean, humiliate others and violate their rights and feelings”, and was “unable to reflect on the consequences of his actions.”

Duterte, who has been dubbed “The Punisher” by Time magazine, has been linked by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to extrajudicial killings of over 1,400 alleged criminals and street children by vigilante death squads. In the April 2009 UN General Assembly of the Human Rights Council, the UN report (Eleventh Session Agenda item 3, par 21) said, “The Mayor of Davao City has done nothing to prevent these killings, and his public comments suggest that he is, in fact, supportive.” Human Rights Watch reported that in 2001–2002, Duterte appeared on local television and radio and announced the names of “criminals”, some of whom were later executed. In July 2005 at a crime summit at the Manila Hotel, Duterte said, “Summary execution of criminals remains the most effective way to crush kidnapping and illegal drugs.”

Duterte has referred to the Catholic Church as “the most hypocritical institution”, after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president Socrates Villegas released a pastoral letter indirectly referring to Duterte as a “morally reprehensible” candidate who has shown “scant regard” for the rights of others and the teachings of the Church, urging Filipino Catholics to not vote for him. Unlike many prominent politicians, Duterte has spoken in favor of birth control, LGBT rights, and reimposition of the death penalty which was abolished by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a devout Catholic, during her second term in 2006. Upon being elected, Duterte called local bishops “sons of whores”, and said he would expand family planning, which the Church had been opposed to. The Catholic Church in the Philippines had lost much of its popularity and political power since being active in overthrowing the Marcos regime in 1986. Antonio Contreras, a political science professor at De La Salle University in Manila, said that Duterte’s attacks on the Church were likely to prove popular.

Duterte has said that he was sexually abused by a priest when he was a minor. After he was challenged by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and AdDU officials to name the priest and file a case against him, Duterte then revealed the priest’s name as Fr. Mark Falvey, SJ (d. 1975). The Jesuits of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines confirmed that according to press reports in the United States, in May 2007, the Society of Jesus agreed to a tentative payout of US$16 million to settle claims that Falvey sexually abused at least nine children in Los Angeles from 1959 to 1975. Accusations against Falvey began in 2002, and he was never charged with a crime. Additionally in May 2008, the Diocese of Sacramento paid $100,000 settlement to a person allegedly raped and molested by Mark’s brother, Fr. Arthur Falvey. However, it was not clearly indicated in the report if Mark Falvey was assigned at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao. When asked why he did not complain when the abuse supposedly happened, Duterte claimed that he was too young to complain about the priest’s abuse and was intimidated by authorities at that time. He also stated that he never disclosed that information after he was expelled and moved to a different high school and especially not to his family.

Duterte has denied responsibility for the extrajudicial killings. He has also frequently announced his support for them. According to Reuters, “Duterte’s loud approval for hundreds of execution-style killings of drug users and criminals over nearly two decades helped propel him to the highest office of a crime-weary land.” In 2009 Duterte said: “If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination.” In 2015, Duterte confirmed his links to extrajudicial killings in Davao, and warned that, if elected president, he may kill up to 100,000 criminals. After the said confirmation, Duterte challenged human rights officials to file a case against him if they could provide evidence to his links with vigilante groups.

In 2010, he was elected vice mayor, succeeding his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, who was elected as mayor. He has been offered the Interior Secretary post four times by presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno S. Aquino III, but rejected all of them.

Prostitution in the Philippines is illegal. In Davao, by city ordinance, police ensure that prostitutes have a valid health card, but do not arrest them. In 2010, the Philippine Child Protection Unit stated that Davao was one of the top five areas for child prostitution and sex tourism in the Philippines. Jeanette Ampog, the executive director of Talikala, a Davao-based NGO that helps prostitutes, said in October 2016 that child prostitution had sharply increased over the past two years. She said that children were cheaper and more marketable. Nevertheless, the city was awarded “Most Child-Friendly City for Highly-Urbanized Category” in 1998, 1999, 2013 and 2014.

Several other Facebook groups with the acronym “DDS” supported Duterte as early as 2011. Among these groups is the Duterte Defense Squad, which was created on July 5, 2011. Other examples include Digong Duterte Supporters-Registered Nurses Group, Duterte’s Destiny is to Serve the Country, Digong Duterte Swerte (lit. Digong Duterte is (Good) Luck), and Davsur Duterte Supporters. In 2015, members of the various groups urged Duterte to run for president.

In 2013, Davao City sent rescue and medical teams to Tacloban to give aid to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, locally known in the country as Typhoon Yolanda. Financial assistance was also given to Bohol and Cebu for the earthquake victims.

In response to Duterte’s comments in 2014 relating to killing a person suspected of smuggling rice in Davao City, the Office of the President of the Philippines issued a statement saying, “Killing a person is against the law. The President has been firm in the belief that no one is above the law. We must not resort to extralegal methods,” while the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has condemned killing as a sin and insists on the protection of rights of the accused. Human rights activists then said that Duterte built a culture of impunity in the city.

In September 2014, Duterte and former mayors and governors, calling themselves the Mindanao Council of Leaders, advocated for a federalist government. A month later, Duterte attended an event sponsored by the Federal Movement for a Better Philippines in Cebu City. In December 2014, Duterte held a summit entitled “Mindanaons Forging Unity Toward a Federal System of Government”.

In 2015, Davao City was among the local government units awarded with a “Seal of Good Local Governance” by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Duterte was accused of having referred to Pope Francis as a “son of a whore” during the pontiff’s visit to the Philippines in January 2015 because it caused traffic congestion, though he immediately apologized publicly, explaining he was not using these words in regards to the Pope but rather a rant to the government’s way of preparing the Pope’s visit. On December 4, 2015, Duterte, along with his executive assistant Bong Go, visited and talked with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles and Bishop George Rimando, together with Monsignor Paul Cuison to get lectured on Christian Values. Duterte committed to lessen his profanity in public gatherings and even assured that he would donate ₱1,000 to Caritas Davao every time he swears in public. He also stated that he will be planning to visit the Vatican at a later time. Duterte however canceled his planned trip and instead wrote a letter to Pope Francis dated January 21, 2016. During a campaign rally in Ubay, Bohol, Duterte’s camp showed the letter coming from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, signed by Giovanni Angelo Becciu dated February 24, stating that Pope Francis had received his letter and that the Vatican appreciated Duterte’s apology after allegedly cursing Pope Francis in public. In January 2017, Duterte wrote a personal letter to Pope Francis, expressing his gratitude during his papal visit in the Philippines and his “highest esteem and respect” for the pontiff.

Duterte has repeatedly admitted to killing three people while he was the Mayor of Davao. In December 2015, Duterte recounted shooting three gunmen dead only months into his first mayoral term in 1988 after they had kidnapped and raped a Chinese girl. He justified his actions, saying “they were committing a crime in my presence and I was the person in authority under the law”. In an interview with BBC on December 16, 2016, he said: “I killed about three of them, because there were three of them. I don’t know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened, and I said, I cannot lie about it”.

Duterte stated at a rally in April 2016 that he shot a fellow student who had bullied him about his Visayan origin as well as other students of the same ethnicity, while at San Beda law college. He said “But the truth is, I’m used to shooting people. When we were about to graduate from San Beda, I shot a person.” Duterte said that he shot the student in a corridor at the college when the said student called him names again. He later told a reporter that the student survived, but refused to answer any further questions about the incident.

However, in an interview aired at 24 Oras and published on the official GMA News Online website on April 22, 2016, retired labor arbiter Arthur Amansec said Duterte and Octavio Goco at that time were both playing with a gun as it was normal for students to bring guns to school in the seventies. Amansec is Duterte’s former classmate in San Beda College who witnessed the incident. He added that “the bullet hit the school’s wooden floor and was embedded there.” Amansec emphasized that Duterte and Goco remained friends until Goco died in the United States years later.

As early as the first quarter of 2015, Duterte made hints to the media of his intention to run for president in the 2016 elections. However, he denied these plans numerous times amidst clamor from his supporters for him to run.

At a campaign rally on April 12, 2016, Duterte told supporters that, as mayor, he thought he “should have been first” to rape Jacqueline Hamill, an Australian missionary who was gang-raped and killed during the 1989 Davao hostage crisis. He recalled examining her corpse and saying that he “should have gone first”.

On May 30, 2016, the 16th Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Duterte as the President-elect of the Philippines after he topped the official count by the Congress of the Philippines for the 2016 presidential election with 16,601,997 votes, 6.6 million more than his closest rival, Mar Roxas. Camarines Sur representative Leni Robredo on the other hand, was proclaimed as the Vice President-elect of the Philippines with 14,418,817 votes, narrowly defeating Senator Bongbong Marcos by 263,473 votes.

The Presidency of Rodrigo Duterte began at noon on June 30, 2016, when he became the 16th President of the Philippines, succeeding Benigno Aquino III.

On August 1, 2016, Duterte launched a 24-hour complaint office accessible to the public through a nationwide complaint hotline, 8888, while also changing the country’s emergency telephone number from 1-1-7 to 9-1-1, which was first instituted in Davao City.

In December 2016, Duterte was ranked 70th on Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful People. On December 7, Duterte signed Executive Order No. 10 creating a consultative committee to review the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. Duterte signed Executive Order 26 imposing a smoking ban in public places on May 16, 2017. In the same month, the Duterte administration began to implement the Anti-Distracted Driving Act. During his presidential campaign and transition, Duterte called for the reimposition of capital punishment in the country to execute criminals involved in “heinous” crimes, such as illegal drug trade, insisting on hanging.

During the 2016 election, Duterte campaigned to restore the death penalty in the Philippines. Duterte, who won the election in May 2016, supports restoration of the death penalty by hanging. It has been reported that he wants capital punishment for criminals involved in illegal drugs, gun-for-hire syndicates and those who commit “heinous crimes” such as rape, robbery or car theft where the victim is murdered. Duterte has theatrically vowed “to litter Manila Bay with the bodies of criminals”. In December 2016, the bill to resume capital punishment for certain “heinous offenses” swiftly passed out of Committee in the House of Representatives; it passed the full House of Representatives in February 2017. However, the law reinstating the death penalty stalled in the Senate in April 2017, where it did not appear to have enough votes to pass.

During the Mindanao Hariraya Eid al-Fitr 2016 convention in Davao City on July 8, 2016, Duterte vowed to address the Moro conflict and bring peace in Mindanao, assuring the Filipino Muslim community that “something will change” before the end of his term. He said that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) both support his proposal for federalism in the Philippines, which he says is the only solution to the Bangsamoro peace process. Duterte said that if the proposal for the country’s shift to federalism fails or is not desired by the Filipino people, he will vow to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which would establish the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. He also added that the Basic Law should benefit both MILF and MNLF, saying he is willing to negotiate with both secessionists to initiate a “reconfiguration” of territory.

On November 6, 2016, Duterte signed an executive order to expand the Bangsamoro Transition Commission to 21 members from 15, in which 11 will be decided by the MILF and 10 will be nominated by the government. The commission was formed in December 2013 and is tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law in accordance with the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro

The Maute group, an ISIS-inspired terrorist group, had reportedly been able to establish a stronghold in Lanao del Sur since early 2016. The group had been blamed for the 2016 Davao City bombing and two attacks in Butig, Lanao del Sur, a town located south of Marawi, in 2016. Before the Duterte administration, the Philippine government had downplayed the threat of ISIS in the Philippines. Even after the February 2016 Butig clash with the Maute group, then-President Benigno Aquino III discounted the possibility of the Islamic State’s presence in the country. He said that those behind the attack were just mercenaries wanting to be recognized by the Middle East-based terror group.

In November 2016, President Duterte confirmed the Maute group’s affiliation with the Islamic State. Amidst fierce fighting in Butig on November 30, 2016, Duterte, in a command briefing in Lanao del Sur, warned the Maute group: “Ayaw ko makipag-away sa inyo. Ayaw ko makipag-patayan, (I do not want to fight with you. I don’t want us killing each other) but please, do not force my hand. I cannot be forever traveling here every month para lang makipag-usap (just to talk), at pagtalikod ko patayan na naman (and when I turn around, there’s killing again). I do not want to mention anything, but please do not force my hand into it.” On December 2, 2016, as the military regained control of Butig, the retreating Maute fighters reportedly left a note threatening to behead Duterte.

In July 2016, Duterte directed his peace process advisor for the CPP–NPA–NDF rebellion, Silvestre Bello III, to lead a government panel in resuming peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA), and the National Democratic Front (NDF) in Oslo, Norway, expressing hope that a peace treaty between the rebellions would be reached within a year. The first talks began on August 22–26, 2016, in which the parties agreed upon “the affirmation of previously signed agreements, the reconstitution of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees which ‘protects the rights of negotiators, consultants, staffers, security and other personnel involved in peace negotiations’, and the accelerated progress for negotiations.” In February 2017, due to recent attacks and kidnapping of soldiers by members of the NPA, President Duterte cancelled all negotiations with the CPP–NPA–NDF, and signed a proclamation in December 2017 declaring the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization, which made anyone financing these groups be held liable under the law. He also ordered the arrest of all NDF negotiators. Military offensive against the group resumed after Duterte’s cancellation of ceasefire.

The Duterte administration has vowed to pursue an “independent foreign policy” that would reject any meddling by foreign governments, reiterating Article II, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution which states: “The State shall pursue an independent foreign policy. In its relations with other states the paramount consideration shall be national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest, and the right to self-determination.” In September 2016, Duterte said: “We will observe and must insist on the time-honored principle of sovereignty, sovereign equality, non-interference and the commitment of peaceful settlements of dispute that will serve our people and protect the interests of our country.”

Duterte made his first international trips as president to Vientiane, Laos and Jakarta, Indonesia on September 5–9, 2016.

On October 18–21, 2016, Duterte visited Beijing to meet with Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. While announcing his “separation” from the United States in front of Chinese and Filipino businessmen at the Philippines–China Trade and Investment Forum in Beijing on October 20, Duterte also said that he would realign himself with the Chinese ideological flow and that he might also travel to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin to “tell him that there are three of us against the world – China, Philippines, and Russia”.

On November 20, 2016, Duterte met with Putin during the sidelines of the APEC summit in Lima, Peru. Duterte has praised Putin’s leadership skills and called him his “idol”. Putin also invited Duterte to visit Moscow. Duterte said that he would visit Moscow on May 25, 2017, where a defense cooperation agreement between the Philippines and Russia is expected to be finalized.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal in the Hague announced its ruling in favor of the Philippines in its case filed under the Benigno Aquino III administration in 2013 against China on issues regarding the South China Sea under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including the latter’s nine-dash line claim which the tribunal ruled had no legal basis. Three days after, during a testimonial dinner in San Juan, Duterte asked former President Fidel Ramos to lead the Philippine envoy to Beijing for bilateral negotiations with China over the disputes. Ramos accepted the offer on July 23, but resigned on October 31. During his first State of the Nation Address on July 25, Duterte said that his administration “strongly affirms and respects” the ruling and would use it as a guide to negotiate for a resolution on the territorial disputes. Duterte prefers to discuss the issue quietly and directly with China and has vowed not to raise the issue before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Duterte said “he would not want to antagonize China” and would want to “maintain good relations with China” to “create an environment where we sit down and talk directly”.

On September 12, 2016, Duterte said that he is “not a fan of the Americans” and that he wants to “reorient” foreign policy with the United States. He requested that U.S. forces in Mindanao should leave the Philippines, specifically those who are part of the Operation Enduring Freedom, saying that it would “inflame the situation with the Abu Sayyaf”. Duterte said on September 13 that he does not plan to cut ties with the United States, but wants to reiterate the administration’s pursuit of an “independent foreign policy” in accordance with the Constitution; the administration will continue to honor mutual agreements like the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. On September 20, Duterte said: “I never said get out of the Philippines, for after all, we need them there in the China Sea. We don’t have armaments.”

Following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar offered “warm congratulations” to Donald Trump on his election victory. He said that Duterte “look[ed] forward to working with the incoming administration for enhanced Philippines–US relations anchored on mutual respect, mutual benefit and shared commitment to democratic ideals and the rule of law”. While in Kuala Lumpur, Duterte personally congratulated Trump by greeting him “Mabuhay!” and expressed hope that the Trump administration would honor obligations and treaties signed between the Philippines and the U.S. On December 2, Duterte called then-President-elect Trump to personally congratulate him once more and invited him to visit the Philippines for the Twelfth East Asia Summit in 2017, while Trump invited Duterte to visit him in New York City and Washington, D.C. after the former’s inauguration. On April 29, 2017, President Trump called Duterte to inform him of his planned visit to the Philippines in November for the East Asia Summit. Trump also extended an invitation to Duterte to visit him at the White House. During their call, Duterte urged Trump to show restraint in dealing with North Korea over their nuclear weapons program, warning him that the region could suffer “immensely”. Trump also praised Duterte’s drug war during the call, telling him “I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem.”

Early in his term, Duterte’s expletive-laden outbursts triggered the biggest exodus from stocks in a year and made the peso Asia’s worst performer in September 2016. The Philippine currency was at a seven-year low and rounding out its worst month since May 2010. In the same month, the Philippine peso completed its biggest monthly decline since October 2000 amid the biggest outflow from the nation’s stocks in a year. According to the Philippines’ Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, the peso’s slump this year is “mainly due to a deteriorating trade outlook because of rising imports of capital goods, which is normal for a country that is growing very fast”. Currency strategists have, however, “predicted a rebound once investors see beyond Duterte’s words”.

In December 2016, government data revealed that the Philippines’ output of nickel ore fell 16 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, after the country, which is the world’s top supplier of the metal, suspended some mines in a clampdown on environmental violations. Production dropped to 19.8 million tonnes in the nine months to September from 25.97 million tonnes a year ago, according to the data. According to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, the “Philippine economy is delivering the performance we anticipated, notwithstanding the political noise and a significant terrorist event in Mindanao”. Dominguez gave the assessment during the Banyan Tree Leadership Forum of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Rodrigo Duterte has been described as a populist, with his foul-mouthed remarks against the country’s elite which positioned him as a “man of the people” as critical to his victory in the 2016 presidential election. He has also been compared to U.S. President Donald Trump for his rhetorical style.

Ardent supporters of Duterte have been labeled as “Diehard Duterte Supporters”, alternatively known as “Digong Duterte Supporters”, which shares the acronym with the Davao Death Squad (DDS). This label has been applied to the 16 million people who voted for him in the 2016 presidential election.

In October 2016, the French newspaper Libération depicted Duterte as a “serial killer president”, pertaining to the spate of drug-related killings in the Philippines. The newspaper report drew condemnation from the Filipino community in France. Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a radio interview that the newspaper’s presentation of Duterte as a serial killer was “very unfair” and “irresponsible” while DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno stated that the description was “too much” and noted the lack of understanding over the administration’s war on drugs.

In July 2016, Duterte accused the United Kingdom and the United States of importing terrorism to the Middle East through its interventions, saying: “The U.S. destroyed the Middle East. … Great Britain and the U.S. will not admit that they forced their way to Iraq and killed Saddam. Look at Iraq now. Look what happened to Libya. Look what happened to Syria.”

In August 2016, Duterte was criticized after he made a homophobic comment (using a Tagalog language slur) about the US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg, stating “As you know, I’m fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry’s) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off.” Duterte added: “He [Goldberg] meddled during the elections, giving statements here and there. He was not supposed to do that.” The U.S. State Department summoned the Filipino chargé d’affaires Patrick Chuasoto to discuss Duterte’s comments. Duterte refused to apologize.

At the 2016 ASEAN Summit, Duterte and U.S. President Barack Obama planned to meet with each other. The United States said that President Obama planned to discuss the 2,400 Filipinos who died during Duterte’s war on drugs. Duterte criticized the planned topic of the meeting, saying, “I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people. You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum.” The vulgar insult prompted the White House to cancel the meeting instead. During a press conference at the 2016 G20 Hangzhou summit in China, President Obama discussed the cancellation of the meeting, saying: “I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting, that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done.” Obama and Duterte later met informally.

On September 30, 2016, Duterte appeared to compare the killings of suspected drug addicts to the Holocaust saying: “Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are 3 million drug addicts. … I’d be happy to slaughter them.” His remarks drew international outrage particularly from the Jewish Communities. World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder condemned the statement, as did the Anti-Defamation League. Israeli Foreign Ministry also condemned his remarks while the German government slammed Duterte’s comments as unacceptable, and called in the Philippine ambassador to the Foreign Ministry over the matter. On October 2 he apologized to the Jewish community. When listening to the full conference, he was in fact referring to the accusation of genocide by lawyers of the European Union who wanted him to face the International Court of Justice and, as presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella explained, that it “was an oblique reflection of the way he has been pictured as a mass murderer, a Hitler, a label he rejects”.

In September 2016, Duterte said that the United States has not even apologized to the Philippines for its atrocities during the Philippine–American War. In October 2016, Duterte continued his tirade against the US and the European Union saying in Tagalog that “Mr. Obama, you can go to hell. EU, better choose purgatory. Hell is already full. Why should I be afraid of you?”

In a press conference on May 31, 2016, Duterte said that “Most of those killed, to be frank, have done something. You won’t be killed if you don’t do anything wrong” and added “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a bitch”.

Melinda Quintos de Jesus, executive director of the Center for Media Freedom, stated in October 2016 that major newspapers and television stations have not critically analyzed Duterte’s policies, because “they like him, they fear him. They basically are afraid to be singled out.”

On December 14, 2016, Duterte gave a speech to business leaders in the presidential palace where he spoke of personally killing suspected criminals as Mayor of Davao to set an example for local police. He said, “In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys that if I can do it why can’t you. And I’d go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around, and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble also.”

Despite being raised as a communicant of the Catholic Church, on January 19, 2016, while meeting with businessmen in Binondo, Manila, Duterte clarified that he has not attended Mass for quite some time already since he deemed it incompatible with his mayoral responsibilities: “If I listened to the Ten Commandments or to the priests,” said Duterte, “I would not be able to do anything as a mayor.” He then clarified that he still believed in God, but not in religion. On June 26, 2016, Duterte said he’s Christian, but also said that he believes “in one God Allah”. Later, he challenged the Catholic Church to show evidence of the existence of God, while paradoxically claiming he is neither an atheist nor an agnostic but happens “to be a human being believing in that there’s a universal mind somewhere which controls the universe”. He has also called God “stupid”.

Duterte admitted in December 2016 that he had been a user of the addictive opioid drug Fentanyl. He said that a doctor prescribed the drug to alleviate back pain and headaches, but that he would take more than he was prescribed. Fentanyl is described by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse as “a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent”. Duterte later denied that he was a drug addict, and a spokesman stated that he was not affected by side-effects of the drug, which include confusion, anxiety and hallucinations.

On May 23, 2017, clashes between Philippine government security forces and militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), including the Maute and Abu Sayyaf Salafi jihadist groups erupted in the city of Marawi.

On May 1, 2017, following a visit to three Chinese naval ships at the Port of Davao, Duterte expressed interest in conducting joint military exercises between the Philippine Armed Forces and China’s People’s Liberation Army in Mindanao, particularly in the Sulu Sea.

On April 6, 2017, Duterte ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to occupy and fortify at least nine uninhabited islands in the South China Sea. He announced plans to visit the Philippine-administered Thitu (Pag-asa) Island during Independence Day and raise a Philippine flag there. Duterte also ordered the Philippine Navy to build structures on the Benham Rise in order to reassure the Philippines’ sovereignty over the undersea region, following the sighting of Chinese survey vessels. He also announced plans to rename the Benham Rise to the Philippine Ridge. On April 12, Duterte canceled his plan to visit the Thitu (Pag-asa) Island, citing goodwill and friendship with China. On April 21, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced the allocation of ₱1.6 billion to develop the Thitu (Pag-asa) Island, despite rejection from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The development of the island is expected to include the construction of a marine research center, beaching facilities, a radio station, an ice plant, and a power station, as well as the improvement of the Rancudo airstrip runway. On May 16, 2017, Duterte signed an executive order formally renaming the Benham Rise to the Philippine Rise.

In 2017 the Philippines was chair and host to the ASEAN summits, a series of diplomatic conferences centering on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The culminating event was held in Manila on November 10–14 (31st summit). It was attended by ten ASEAN leaders.

On August 16, 2017, Duterte remarked that he would have the Commission on Human Rights investigated and has threatened them with violence if they are found to be “obstructing justice”.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the first year of Duterte in office a human rights calamity. HRW estimates that there has been 7,000 deaths from the day Duterte first took office to January 2017. The Duterte administration suspended the drugs war in February 2017 in an effort to cleanse the police ranks of supposed corruption, also halting the disclosure of figures on deaths related to drug arrests and raids. In March 2017, HRW released a special investigation and report on the state of police related shooting, titled “License To Kill”. The New York Times had also released a video documentary “When A President Says I’ll Kill You”, which depicts Duterte’s war on drugs through a local photographer’s eyes. On August 17, 2017, HRW called Duterte a threat to the human rights community after he made threats against human rights activists.

On May 8, 2017, Jude Sabio, the lawyer of Edgar Matobato, filed a case against Duterte in the International Criminal Court (ICC). An online petition for the ICC to investigate Duterte for advocating shoot-to-kill orders had been filed in Change.org only three months after he started to serve as president, following the drastic increase on the number of deaths of drug users or pushers. In January 2020, the International Criminal Court confirmed that an investigation into Duterte’s involvement with the death squads was ongoing, despite the Philippines having withdrawn from the ICC two years prior, because it continued to have jurisdiction over crimes committed when the country was still a member. Duterte had withdrawn the country just one month after the opening of the investigation.

Various international publications and media companies had claimed that Duterte’s “War on Drugs” was a war against the poor due to the abject poverty of those arrested or killed. In 2017, the investigative journalists’ network OCCRP reported that “Duterte has overseen the killing of more than 7,000 and possibly as many as 12,000.

On August 18, 2017, Duterte admitted his mistake in trying to end drugs in six months, and it would take him his entire term to end it. Duterte stated that he had no idea when he took office that Philippines had become a failed state, having been degenerated into a narco-state. He blamed the Bureau of Customs whose people he thought were loyal to him. He also blamed the governors, mayors and policemen who were involved in drugs and threatened to have them killed. The Duterte administration had been using a “narco-list” which Duterte shares with the mass media to warn public officials allegedly involved in the drug trade to surrender. Duterte claims to have received several death threats because of his campaign against drugs. Unfazed by these, Duterte stated that he welcomes all attempts to kill him.

Duterte signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law on July 26, 2018, which abolished the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and provided for the basic structure of government for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, following the agreements set forth in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro peace agreement signed between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2014.

Duterte stressed that communist terrorism is the number one threat to national security. He formed the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), and directed the adoption of a national peace framework by issuing Executive Order 70 in December 2018. He also created the Task Force Balik Loob (TFBL), a task force that will handle all government efforts at reintegrating former communist rebels into society.

In February 2018, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published aerial surveillance photos of Chinese military fortifications in the South China Sea which showed runways, hangars, control towers, helipads, radomes and multi-storey buildings on reefs across the region, described by the newspaper as “island fortresses”. The photos, which were mostly taken in late 2017, were authenticated by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which described them as “the most complete, detailed batch of aerial pics available”, and stated that the “photos show China is nearly done with its militarization of South China Sea”. Duterte’s spokesman told reporters: “[The region has] long been militarized. And the question is, what can we do?” – which led to accusations of dereliction of his “sacred core duty” of defending Philippine territory.

In 2018, Duterte stated his opposition to same-sex marriage but favored same-sex civil union.

In August 2018, Duterte’s home province of Davao had the highest number of reported rape cases. Duterte responded by joking that Davao has “many beautiful women”. which explains the high rate. His comments were defended by his daughter, Sara Duterte, who asked his critics: “What have you done for Davao?”. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also defended his comments, saying that “it’s more liberal in the South”.

In January 2018, Duterte revealed that he advised Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi to ‘ignore human rights criticisms on Rohingya issue’. In April 2018, Duterte recognized the existence of a genocide against the Rohingya people, saying he was willing to accept refugees.

In July 2018, he called himself “spiritual” and expressed his belief in “one Supreme God”, but stated he “can’t accept” Catholicism or organised religion. In 2019, he was quoted as saying: “a part of me which is Islam”.

In July 2019, UN ambassadors of 37 countries, including the Philippines, have signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China’s treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.

In January 2019, Duterte attacked the country’s Catholic bishops and claimed most of them were gay after the church criticised his war on drugs. Saying “Only I can say bishops are sons of bitches, damn you … Most of them are gay. They should come out in the open, cancel celibacy and allow them to have boyfriends.”

Duterte was once married to Elizabeth Abellana Zimmerman, a flight attendant of Jewish and German American descent from Davao City. She traces her roots in Tuburan, Cebu. They together have three children (from eldest to youngest): Paolo (“Pulong”), Sara (“Inday Sara”) and Sebastian (“Baste”). Paolo and Sara entered politics while Baste, with no interest in politics, concentrated on business and surfing but eventually ran and won as Davao City Vice Mayor in 2019. In 2012, Duterte made a notorious remark in a media interview regarding an incident where Paolo’s name was allegedly linked to a carnapping (portmanteau of car and kidnapping) syndicate led by Ryan Yu. Duterte is infamously quoted as having said: “Kill my son Paolo if he is involved in crime.” Paolo was never charged for lack of evidence and eventually won the vice mayoralty of Davao City vice in 2013. Duterte’s father, Vicente, died in 1968 while his mother, Soledad, died on February 4, 2012, at the age of 95. Zimmerman was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2015.

As of October 2020, the war on drugs has resulted in 5,800 deaths and 256,000 arrests of drug personalities or suspects. On October 15, 2020, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) destroyed ₱6.25 billion worth of seized illegal drugs, in compliance with Duterte’s order.

On September 22, 2020, in UN Speech, Duterte reaffirmed the Hague ruling rejecting most of China’s claims to disputed waters, and said “The award is now part of international law, beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish, or abandon.”