Rodrigo Duterte Quotes

We cannot move forward if we allow the past to pull us back.

Putin was a new modern “strongman,” Peskov said, an archetype who was spawning imitations across the globe. “People around the world are tired of leaders that are all similar to each other. There’s a demand in the world for special sovereign leaders, for decisive ones who do not fit into general frameworks,” the Kremlin spokesman explained. “Putin’s Russia was the starting point.” Others that fit the mold included Viktor Orban in Hungary, Xi Jinping in China, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, and Recep Tayyip Erdog˘an in Turkey.

Filipinos have built many cities, expressways, subways, railways, and airports elsewhere in the world as OFWs. The pandemic gave us the best talent pool one could ever ask for. Build, Build, Build gave OFWs an opportunity to serve their country if they wanted to. Although we couldn’t match the salaries they received abroad, many stayed to ensure that Filipinos would get to use infrastructure that they only saw in photos before. We are on the right track. The Philippines can be a trillion-dollar economy. President Rodrigo Duterte already laid the grounds to make this possible. It will be up to us to make it happen.

It is easier to build from scratch than to dismantle the rotten and rebuild upon its rubbles.

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In 2016, when we started Build, Build, Build, critics said that the EDSA Decongestion Program is mathematically impossible, that it could not be done, that President Rodrigo Duterte was overpromising, and that Google Maps did not support such assertion. They failed to see the bigger picture — the possibility of a 90-year-old EDSA back to its original 1930s form, a future where Filipinos do not have to debate about Metro Manila’s “true midpoint” and a reality wherein every city in Metro Manila can be accessed within a 20 to 30 minute time frame

In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte embarked to build the Luzon Spine Expressway Network, a 1,101-kilometer expressway network, which would connect the northernmost and southernmost parts of Luzon. By building a 655-kilometer expressway network, Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar aims to complement the existing expressway grid spanning 385 kilometers. The goal is to increase the road network by threefold.

As a student, I dreamed of a nation without roadblocks. I didn’t realize that 10 years after, I’d be part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Build, Build, Build team. And since July 2016, according to Secretary Mark Villar, DPWH has completed 29,264 kilometers of roads, and 5,950 bridges.

Several years after Typhoon Yolanda struck the Philippines, international development organizations remained to help in the recovery and rehabilitation process. In my mind, it was difficult to talk about sustainable development when students had to risk their lives just to go to school, when farmers and fishers had to take whatever the middlemen were willing to give because transportation of their produce proved too difficult. A number of municipalities could only be accessed through boats. Whenever it rained, families would have to make a decision whether to risk their lives or lose their income. It was at this point that I realized that if we were to achieve real and inclusive economic growth, then a good infrastructure network was necessary. I would have never thought that in a matter of years I would join President Rodrigo Duterte's Build, Build, Build team.

Prior to the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, average infrastructure spending for the past five decades was only at 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP. The 2015 IMF report found that the Philippines had a lower public investment in comparison to other members of ASEAN. We all know that Build, Build, Build is a program that is not only necessary but is in fact long overdue. If the Philippines is to achieve its full potential, then it must do something to cut losses due to traffic congestion in Metro Manila, which has gone up to ₱3.5 billion a day. It was at this point that Secretary Mark Villar presented the plan to decongest the 90-year-old EDSA, a 23.8-kilometer circumferential highway, which has long exceeded its maximum capacity of 288,000 vehicles a day.

Nanlaban, under Rodrigo Duterte, did not mean only that a man had fought back. It meant he had fought and died. Nanlaban is judgment and justification, verb and noun, a shorthand for the dead bastards who deserved what they got.

Here is Jason Quizon’s confession, his act of contrition. He was conned and allowed himself to be conned. He is disappointed, not in Duterte, but in himself. Jason regrets his vote. He regrets the fact that maybe ten more people voted for Duterte because he told them to vote for Duterte. For Jason, Rodrigo Duterte is a liar and “the most cowardly person to ever hold that position.” When Jason Quizon voted again, he did not vote for the Duterte daughter, or the Marcos son. He is still disappointed, not only in himself, but in his people too. When it comes to elections, he says, Filipinos are still fucking morons.

Makalipas ang ilang taon matapos nanalasa ang Bagyong Yolanda sa Pilipinas, patuloy pa rin ang pagtulong ng mga international development organizations sa rehabilitasyon. Sa isip ko, mahirap pag-usapan ang tungkol sa sustainable development kung ang mga mag-aaral ay kailangan ipagsapalaran ang kanilang buhay makapunta lang sa paaralan; kung ang mga magsasaka at mangingisda ay napipilitang kunin kung anuman ang inaalok na presyo ng ahente dahil ang paghahatid ng kanilang ani at huli ay napakahirap. Ang ilang mga bayan ay napupuntahan lamang gamit ang mga bangka. Kapag umuulan, kailangang mamili ng mga pamilya kung ipagsasapalaran ang kanilang buhay o mawala ang kanilang kita. Sa puntong iyon ko napagtanto na kung nais natin makamit ang inclusive growth, kinakailangan ang isang mahusay na infrastructure network. Hindi ko akalain na matapos lang ang ilang taon ay sasali ako sa Build, Build, Build ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.” - Night Owl: Edisyong Filipino (p. 10, Bakit ko Sinusuportahan ang Build, Build, Build?)

The final installment was published on May 2, seven days before the elections. It ended with a warning: “If Rodrigo Duterte wins,” we wrote, “his dictatorship will not be thrust upon us. It will be one we will have chosen for ourselves. Every progressive step society has made has been diminished by his presence. Duterte’s contempt for human rights, due process, and equal protection is legitimized by the applause at the end of every speech. We write this as a warning. The streets will run red if Rodrigo Duterte keeps his promise. Take him at his word—and know you could be next.

Critics have said that the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte should shy away from Build, Build, Build if it were to solve the COVID-19 pandemic. I disagree. The government must not choose between health and economy but rather make mutual compromises that would further health, recovery, job security, and long-term economic potential.