For Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, it was another year of sledges, threats and ‘rape jokes’
The Philippine president came to office in 2016 with a reputation for vulgar quips – it’s fair to say he burnished that reputation further in 2017
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has become notorious for his zero-tolerance approach to narcotics, overseeing a brutal crackdown that has delivered a mounting death toll. However, he has also become infamous for his bellicose, sometimes bizarre public statements.
This year proved that Duterte’s unpredictable rhetoric was by no means confined to the campaign trail. Quite the opposite, Duterte’s second year in office has brought with it a whole new string of insults, threats and off-colour remarks.
Whether he’s intimidating his politics foes or taking aim at the Philippines’ allies, giving police the green light to kill drug users or making “rape jokes” to boost soldiers’ morale, Duterte spent 2017 veering between the bizarre and the downright disturbing.
Watch: Duterte sings to Trump
When Islamist militants abducted and beheaded two Vietnamese sailors in the southern region of Mindanao, Duterte’s reaction was furious. “I will eat your liver if you want me to. Give me salt and vinegar and I will eat it in front of you,” Duterte said. “I eat everything. I am not picky. I eat even what cannot be swallowed.”
