Filipino expats rejoice over Duterte's early lead in TIME's 'most influential' poll

Dubai - The online poll, which opened over the weekend, will close on April 16

Filipinos in the UAE are rejoicing over Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's early lead in Time magazine's online poll for its annual list of '100 most influential people in the world.'
Duterte, who will celebrate his 72nd birthday on Tuesday, is ahead of Pope Francis, Russian president Vladimir Putin, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
The online poll, which opened over the weekend, will close on April 16 and the official TIME 100 list will be announced on April 20.
"Duterte's inclusion and early lead in the Time's online poll is a proud moment for us Filipinos," Joey Tiberio, sales manager of Philippine Airlines in Dubai and northern emirates, told Khaleej Times.  "Last year he was also included in Forbes magazine's most powerful people list and this recognition is a proof that he is a world-class leader."
Tiberio explained: "Duterte helped diffuse the tension in South China Sea by opening a dialogue with Chinese officials. He's actively promoting peace, and since the Philippines took over as chair of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the president has been actively visiting countries in the region to boost security and trade relations.

"The travel and tourism industry in the Philippines benefits a lot from Duterte's peace and order campaign," Tiberio said.
Dubai resident and avid Duterte supporter Conrado Quizon added: "We, Filipinos, have long been waiting for this kind of strong leadership. Duterte is a phenomenal and amazing Filipino leader who has the guts to fight the war against corruption, criminality and drugs."
"He deserves it," added Mosh Lafuente. "Filipinos are now looking to a better future - a future with less crime, drugs and corruption in the government. We can now rely on our government institutions, unlike before where extortion was rampant."
Incidentally, Time magazine is one of the media entities lambasted by Duterte's diehard supporters as hatching a "demolition job" against the president after publishing a series of scathing articles on Duterte's bloody campaign against illicit drugs.
But Milo Torres, a professional photographer and part time instructor at a university in Dubai, said: "Time magazine published a biased article against our president a few months back, but now is the time to let them know how much the Filipino people love him - that's why we are actively campaigning for Duterte to lead the poll."
"It's a vindication of his (Duterte) advocacy and a barometer that the people are amenable to his policies," Jerry Martinez, an entrepreneur in Dubai, added.

"We will actively campaign online and offline for Duterte to emerge on top of the poll," said Sharjah resident Arnel Fernandez.
"We want to show to the world how much we support our president because we like his programs for overseas Filipinos. We also wish him good health on his birthday," added Abu Dhabi resident Galendo Bethany.
But still, Duterte's popularity should be carefully scrutinized and taken with a grain of salt, underlined Mannix Pabalan, CEO of a digital ad agency based in Dubai.
"Although there is no comprehensive proof that the massive extra judicial killings is state-sponsored, the end does not justify the means," Pabalan underlined.  "Moreover, there are more challenging pursuits than just the campaign against illegal drugs.  In particular, the peace talks with the communists should be strongly pursued and the root cause of rebellion should be properly addressed to achieve real, just and lasting peace in our country."
angel@khaleejtimes.com
 

• UAE