DUTERTE’S DAUGHTER TAKES OATH AS VP

Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing populist president of the Philippines, took her oath Sunday as vice president following a landslide electoral victory she clinched despite her father’s human rights record that saw thousands of drug suspects gunned down.

The inauguration in their southern hometown of Davao, where she’s the outgoing mayor, comes two weeks before she assumes office on June 30 as specified in the Philippine Constitution. President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Duterte’s running mate, will take his oath in Manila on June 30.

“I’m not the best or the most intelligent person in the Philippines and the world, but nobody can beat the toughness of my heart as a Filipino,” Duterte said in a speech after she took her oath before a Supreme Court associate justice.

“The voice of 32.2 million Filipinos was loud and clear — with the message to serve our motherland,” Duterte said to an applause from thousands of supporters.

The mother of three called for national unity and devotion to God. She cited long-standing social ills facing Filipino children, including poverty, broken families, illegal drugs and bullying and asked parents to ingrain in them the values of integrity, discipline, respect for others and compassion.

Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency has been marked by a brutal anti-drugs campaign that has left thousands of mostly petty suspects shot dead by police or vigilantes. The killings are being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.

The electoral triumph of Sara Duterte and Marcos Jr. has alarmed left-wing and human rights groups because of their failure to acknowledge the massive human rights atrocities that took place under their fathers, including late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.