What is Rodrigo Duterte’s legacy?

NO PRESIDENT OF the Philippines since Ferdinand Marcos, the late dictator, has held such a grip on power as the authoritarian Rodrigo Duterte. Nor has any appeared so unconcerned at accomplishing so little. His promises of constitutional change, devolving power from the centre in Manila, came to nothing. His kowtowing to President Xi Jinping of China brought little investment and much resentment. By his own admission, his war on drugs has failed—though at a human cost, according to the UN’S human-rights body, of at least 8,000 dead in vigilante-style killings. His administration has mishandled covid-19, with less than half of Filipinos fully vaccinated and the economy nearly 6% smaller than before the pandemic.