Led by retired military generals instead of public health experts, the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic inflicted deep financial pain and upheaval.Ĭritics pointed to an initial shortage of doses and slow introduction of vaccines, while successive lockdowns and strict social distancing rules devastated businesses. That compared with 820.4 billion pesos over the same number of years in the previous administration, it said. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said that in the first four years of Duterte's term, the government was able to "accomplish" 2.5 trillion pesos' worth of public infrastructure projects.
Thousands of bridges, dykes, classrooms, evacuation centres and roads were built in a flurry of development. 'Build, build, build' spending spreeįinanced by taxpayer money and foreign loans, Mr Duterte went on a spending spree with a $147 billion to $165bn "build, build, build" campaign to improve the sorry state of the country's infrastructure. In the first three months of 2022, 43 per cent of Filipino families reported feeling poor, while 34 per cent felt they were on the "borderline". The poverty rate shot back up to 23.7 per cent last year in the country of 110 million people.
The poverty rate fell from 23.5 per cent of the population in 2015 to 16.7 per cent in 2018, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.īut as the pandemic choked the economy, the financial misery of the poor worsened. Millions of people were lifted out of poverty in the first few years of Mr Duterte's term as economic reforms by his predecessor Benigno Aquino bore fruit. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officers and policemen arrest a man suspected of dealing in drugs during a drug raid in Maharlika Village, Taguig, south of Manila, in 2018. In May 2017, hundreds of pro-ISIS foreign and local gunmen seized Marawi, the country's largest Muslim city.īut in what is seen by some analysts as Duterte's biggest achievement, he signed a law in 2018 granting greater autonomy to the region - the crucial missing element to the languishing peace pact. Under Mr Duterte, efforts to decommission the MILF's 40,000 fighters and distribute economic aid have sputtered, raising fears that disillusioned Muslim youths could turn towards more hardline Islamist groups in the poor region. Violence has persisted on the restive southern island of Mindanao despite a 2014 peace deal with former rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But rights groups estimate tens of thousands have been slain by police and shadowy vigilantes, even without proof they were linked to drugs.
AFPĬritics ended up facing lengthy jail terms, including opposition Senator Leila de Lima and journalist Maria Ressa, who was named as a Time magazine person of the year in 2018 for her work.Īt least 6,248 people died in police anti-drug operations, official government figures show. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte rejected accusations of rights abuses during his term in a drug war that killed thousands of people. "If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself, as getting their parents to do it would be too painful," he said hours after being sworn in as president in June 2016.Īctivists hold placards in Manila as they commemorate International Human Rights Day in 2017. He repeatedly said there was no official campaign to illegally kill addicts and dealers, but his speeches included incitements to violence. The president, who is being succeeded by the son and namesake of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was elected in 2016 on a promise to get rid of the Philippines' drug problem, openly ordering police to kill drug suspects if officers' lives were in danger.
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That popularity took a hit when the coronavirus pandemic plunged the country into its worst economic crisis in decades, leaving thousands dead and millions jobless amid the slow distribution of vaccines.Īnd during his final year in office, judges of the International Criminal Court authorised a full investigation into possible crimes against humanity during Mr Duterte's anti-drug operations.
Philippines President Duterte on Putin: 'I kill criminals, not children or elders'
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