Duterte: I’m a dictator, so what?

DAVAO CITY — "I’m a dictator. I admit it. So what?"

Thus, declared City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte yesterday as he slammed critics who have labeled his administration as a "dictatorship."

"I don’t mind being tagged a dictator as long as it brings about public welfare and order in the city. As long as it is for the good of the greater number of people, I don’t make any fuss about being a dictator," the pistol-tucking mayor said.

Duterte, however, said his being a "dictator" emanated from his having been duly elected into office and not by grabbing power from anyone.

His election, he said, gives him the mandate to impose the law no matter what it takes to ensure peace and order in the city.

"I am not like Idi Amin (of Uganda). I’m not grabbing any power. All I want is the full enforcement of the law," the mayor said.

He added that he also does not mind if the city has been tagged as a "city of don’ts" where the no-smoking ordinance and the ban against the sale, distribution and use of firecrackers, among other prohibitions, have been strictly enforced.

Duterte served as city mayor for three straight terms starting 1987 and ran and won as congressman in 1998. He reassumed the mayorship in 2001.

He said he knows exactly what is needed to govern this southern metropolis with a population of 1.6 million from diverse ethnic origins.

"If you appear to be weak, there is nothing that would happen in this city. There would be chaos instead. People need a semblance of a strong leadership so there could be peace and order in this place that has a very wide area," he said. The city is touted as the world’s largest in terms of land area.

Duterte’s tough stance has gained both praises and criticisms from different sectors.

Certain sectors, particularly smokers, have frowned upon the smoking ban strictly imposed in commercial establishments and public offices.

Some holiday revelers, on the other hand, did not relish the silence that greeted the Christmas and New Year celebrations in the absence of firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

"Let them all complain as long as we know that we have served the greater number of people. The results would show it is for the public welfare that we enforce the law which everyone should follow," Duterte said.