Duterte tops TIME 100 poll

AMID THE backdrop of his bloody drug war that has drawn international attention among human rights watchdogs, Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte topped the 2017 TIME 100 poll — the annual most influential list of TIME magazine.

Mr. Duterte, who enjoyed an early lead in the American news magazine’s reader survey, got 5% of the total “yes” votes in the poll, which closed Sunday night, TIME said on its Web site on Monday.

Mr. Duterte edged out the likes of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, tech magnate Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — all of whom received 3% of the total “yes” votes.

In response to the poll results, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto C. Abella said Mr. Duterte remains a “hardworking government worker and faithful servant of the Filipino people” with or without distinction.

“What makes the President so admired by Filipinos and international leaders alike is his national agenda — he has prioritized public interest first and foremost, especially the needs and aspirations of the poor and common people,” Mr. Abella said.

This would not be Mr. Duterte’s first time to be cited in an international ranking of influential people, having made it to Forbes magazine’s “World Most Powerful People” last December, placing 70 out of 74 personalities in the annual roster.

This would also not be the first time for Mr. Duterte to be a subject of a TIME magazine article.

In November last year, a story with the title “In Manila, Death Comes by Night” was posted on the magazine’s Web site, showing pictures of people killed in the course of Mr. Duterte’s antidrug campaign.

Before that, TIME also published in September an article titled “Inside Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs,” which cited his alleged “authoritarian leanings” in the implementation of his antidrug campaign. —