DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 April) – President Rodrigo R. Duterte beat the other influential leaders of the world after he garnered 5 percent of the total “yes” votes at the closing of the Time 100 reader poll Sunday (US time).
Trailing behind Duterte in the poll were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, who each received 3 percent of the total “yes” votes.
Duterte, who is both praised and criticized for his campaign against his war on drugs, consistently topped the 2017 Time 100 poll, which opened on March 24.
Time 100 is an annual list of the world’s most influential people. “Although Time’s editors ultimately choose the Time 100, we want to know what the readers think,” said the influential publication. The editors’ final choice for the official Time 100 list will be announced April 20.
“Since taking office in June, Duterte has waged an aggressive war on drugs that has killed more than 8,000 people in the Philippines, according to Reuters. The controversial anti-drug campaign has inspired growing opposition from human rights groups and some political leaders, including Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo, “ Time wrote.
Last year, US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders won the reader poll while Russian President Vladimir Putin took the lead in 2015.
In a statement on Tuesday, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte said that his father’s good showing in the Time poll “is an indication that Duterte has the trademark of a good leader that many people from all corners of the world are so desperately looking for.”
“President Rodrigo Duterte – a leader worthy of respect not just by the Filipino people but by all other peoples from other nations,” he said.
The vice mayor said that Filipinos should be proud that the country’s president is admired also by other nations.
“We should all rally behind President Duterte and continue to support him for his mission to make the country more progressive and at par with more developed countries,” he said.
The younger Duterte said their family hopes the Filipino people will appreciate the sacrifices of the President.
“To our father – keep up the good work and may God give you more strength to keep on serving the Filipino people,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)