By Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
Forbes Magazine has named President Duterte as the 69th most powerful people in the world this year, a few days after he was named as a strongman by Time Magazine.
Forbes on its website said the list selects one person out of every 100 million “whose actions mean the most.”
“This year’s list comes at a time of rapid and profound change, and represents our best guess about who will matter in the year to come,” Forbes said.
Forbes noted that Duterte won in the 2016 elections on his campaign promise to end criminality and illegal drugs.
“Duterte was elected president of the Philippines in 2016 on the strength of a campaign that promised execution of drug dealers and other criminals,” it said. “So far, his war on crime has already resulted in the killing of thousands of people across the archipelago country,” it added.
Forbes also cited Duterte’s colorful language against his political enemies. “Duterte’s raw and vulgar vocabulary keeps him in the headlines: He called Obama ‘son of a whore’ and has used homophobic slurs to describe opponents.”
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, in a statement, said Duterte has acknowledged that the true source of power is the people. “The Presidency, in the mind of PRRD, begins and ends with public trust where real power emanates,” Roque said.
Roque said Duterte, for almost two years, has served the people by promoting their and the Philippines’ interests first.
“The anti-drug war, the pursuit of an independent foreign policy, and the pro-poor policies and programs of the Duterte administration, among others, are reflective of the current government’s advancing the welfare of the greatest number of our countrymen,” Roque said.
Taking the top spot in the list of 75 people from various fields is Duterte’s “good friend” Chinese President Xi Jinping who took the spot from Russian President Vladimir Putin who was No. 1 for four consecutive years.
