What is his background?
The 71-year-old motorbike fanatic was mayor of the southern city of Davao for two decades, where he drastically reduced crime. However, human rights groups accuse him of allowing vigilante death squads to carry out hundreds of extrajudicial killings.
The political establishment is in shock but Duterte is way ahead in many polls, having promised to end drug crime in three to six months and pardon security forces who kill criminals. Speaking last month, the man known as Duterte Harry said his presidency “will be a bloody one”.
Duterte is popular because many see him as an outsider who can end years of the same types of politicians, and also use quick fixes to deal with the south-east Asian nation’s problems.
Many have compared his demagogic rise to that of Donald Trump, although Duterte says Trump is a bigot. Duterte is also openly supportive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, a sensitive topic in a mainly Catholic country.
Joshua Kurlantzick, a fellow for south-east Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, describes him as “the ultimate wildcard”.