Duterte vows economic growth outside Manila
Presumptive president apologizes to Trudeau over beheading
DAVAO, Philippines, May 26, (Agencies): Incoming Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte pledged Thursday to spread economic activity beyond the overpopulated capital of Manila, calling it a “dead” city overrun by shantytowns.
Duterte said he would create new jobs by setting up economic zones outside of Manila to spread the wealth beyond the sprawling metropolis of about 15 million people, and that he would not allow any more factories to be built in the capital.
“I have to create more jobs but Manila is already saturated,” Duterte told reporters in the southern city of Davao, which he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades.
“If there are any investors coming in, I will tell them I will not allow factories anymore in Manila, not only because it is a dead city but because I have to build a new environment for the people.”
Duterte, who won a landslide election victory just over two weeks ago, said repeatedly while campaigning one of his top priorities would be improving the lives of about 26 million Filipinos, more than a fourth of the population, who live on $1.30 a day or less.
Popular frustrations over the sharp rich-poor divide that largely remain despite years of continuous strong economic growth under incumbent leader Benigno Aquino helped to bring Duterte to power, analysts have said.
Lack of opportunities around the rest of the Philippines have for decades made Manila a magnet for people seeking a better life, but millions have instead been forced to live miserable existences in mega-slums.
The nation’s rich-poor divide is on vivid display in Manila, where the slums are just a few kilometres (miles) from gated villages with luxury homes for the rich, as well as glittering skyscrapers and billion-dollar casino complexes.
Duterte expressed dismay at the sight of Manila’s polluted canals, which are surrounded by shantytowns.
Duterte, who will begin a six-year term on June 30, said he wanted to create opportunities elsewhere so people would not have to live in such squalid conditions.
“I will ask the engineers to find land because we will build economic zones there,” Duterte said, adding people living in the Manila slums would be moved there.
“I have to relocate them but before I relocate them, I have to establish economic activity.”
Manila accounts for more than a third of the economic output of the
country, with two surrounding regions contributing another quarter, according to official data.
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MANILA, Philippines: The Philippines’ presumptive presidentelect said Thursday he apologized to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the beheading by Muslim militants of a Canadian hostage in the southern province of Sulu.
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of southern Davao city told reporters he apologized for last month’s beheading of hostage John Ridsdel when Trudeau called Tuesday to congratulate him for his election victory.
“I said ‘Mr Prime Minister, please accept my apologies for the incident,’” Duterte told reporters in Davao. “We will try our very best
and see to it that nothing of this sort will happen again, and you can rest assured that when the time comes, we will be able to apprehend the criminals and exact justice.”
Duterte, who won the May 9 presidential election on a wide margin based on an unofficial tally, is due to be inaugurated president on June 30, the end of outgoing leader Benigno Aquino III’s six-year term.
The militants beheaded John Ridsdel on April 25 in Sulu, an impoverished province in the south after they failed to get a ransom of 300 million pesos ($6.3 million).
Trudeau earlier condemned the killing but vowed not to give in to the kidnappers’ ransom demands. Following the beheading, the Philippine military launched an offensive that security officials believe have killed more than a dozen gunmen so far.
Muslim militants have threatened to kill three more hostages in their jungle base in the southern Philippines weeks after beheading Ridsdel. The hostages include another Canadian, a Norwegian and a Filipino woman.
Duterte said he and Trudeau also discussed human rights, and he said he told Trudeau: “Universal Declaration of Human rights, fine, I said ‘I’m following it, but Mr. Prime Minister, with few exceptions.’”
Duterte has been criticized for his human rights record in Davao, where he was mayor for 22 years. Hundreds have been killed in that port city on an anti-crime purge some believed he secretary run. On the presidential campaign trail, Duterte repeatedly vowed to kill drug criminals.