Two years after winning the top post in 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte calls his success a “gift from God.”
“‘‘Yung pagka-presidency ko is really a gift from God. Masabi ko na ngayon take your cue from me. I would ask you bluntly. Did you ever thought at that time I will win? Wala talaga,” said Duterte in a political campaign rally in Garcia-Hernandez, Bohol.
“I had the support of the Chinese community and almost everybody. Wala ako even in Danao, sa Cebu. Ang nagsuporta lang sa akin ang mga pinsan ko and that was it,” Duterte said.
“But I won heavily sa mga Muslim areas, nag-landslide ako, and dito sa Visayas. Even without a little time to campaign. Do I have money? Wala talaga ako and yet I won,” he added.
President Duterte has been much-criticized over his war against drugs that many connect to the thousands of extra-judicial killings.
He has also been very critical of the Catholic faith, bishops, and priests in a predominantly Catholic nation.
“Ako, hindi ko naman — hindi naman ako nagyayabang. I’m not the type that — may hangin nga na… Pero na timing lang mabuti’t na lang at ako ang na-presidente sa totoo lang,” Duterte said.
“If you are from Davao masabi mo talaga ‘yan. Kasi sa Davao sinabi ko, I am trying to build a city that is comfortable to everybody. And I’m asking all of you guys out there that do not… You know… Just a reason for my son or daughter to eat shabu because you will destroy my city and I will kill you,” he added.
