Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte is one of the most popular presidents in the world, in spite — or perhaps in part because of — his history of prejudiced remarks about women, gay people and minority groups.
Driving the news: Polls suggest his daughter and successor as mayor of Davao City, Sara Duterte, is the electorate's top choice to succeed him as president in 2022. But he said Thursday that Sara would not be running.
- The presidency, he said, is "not meant for women," as they have a different "emotional setup" than men.
- Duterte, who frequently complains about the miseries of his job, added that his daughter would “go through what I went through.”
What to watch: Duterte is not eligible to seek re-election at the end of his six-year term, though an attempt by his allies to amend the constitution raised speculation he might try to stick around.
- “Even if you serve it to me on a silver platter or give me 10 more years for free, I am done,” he said Thursday.
Meanwhile, Duterte is facing a Senate investigation into reports that doses of an unapproved Chinese vaccine were smuggled into the Philippines and given to upward of 100,000 Chinese nationals as well as to some of the soldiers assigned to guard Duterte.
- Duterte has told the soldiers not to cooperate with the investigation, and his office described the vaccines as a "gift" from China.
- Worth noting: Many of the Chinese nationals in question work in offshore gambling. Several illegal medical clinics catering to Chinese nationals working in offshore gambling were discovered in the Philippines last year.
