Rodrigo Duterte led the campaign that won him the Philippines presidency with a divisive and deeply unpopular ‘war on drugs’
His drug war claimed nearly 30,000 victims while he was mayor of Davao city
He was known as ‘the Punisher’ in Davao
Many Davao residents know their own by name and see their neighbour ‘Davao Boy’
Three mayors have been killed so far in the Philippines’ anti-drug crackdown
He was nicknamed ‘Fat Dip’ by two inmates who spent three months in jail with him in 2001
His gang of young men was called the “Ladies of Rock” because it was their profession
He became known as ‘Illegal Doormen’ after police were so afraid of retaliation that they gave up the case to avoid compromising him
He insisted it was the “actual” reason the case was dropped was due to a police investigation finding he was innocent
Investigations have also linked him to the “Negros Car Blast”
Two men lost their legs, two others lost their arms
Public demands for a US-backed tribunal to be established to examine allegations of extrajudicial killings in his ‘war on drugs’ have been a feature of his presidency
Some claim the Davao drug war was a cover-up for a widespread assassination campaign targeting journalists; the president denies this
Sixteen councilors were dismissed from office in February for complicity in Duterte’s drug war
The Truth Commission, a government-appointed body that investigates deaths linked to organized crime and corruption, is probing the Davao killings