Global News, Local News Political Analyst Richard Heydarian Brilliantly Decodes Duterte Called Him A Classical Realist

“After the bravado, macho, jet ski statements during the campaign trail, Duterte is a classical realist” – These are the words used by Richard Heydarian, an assistant professor of political science at the De La Salle University in Manila, in describing presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte and believes that the incoming president will be more of a statesman when he assumes office on June 30, 2016. “If you scratch below the surface, you will see that this guy really understands what’s happening” Heydarian added.

Not Trump and Lee Kuan Yew but maybe better
Heydarian further stressed that it’s wrong to compare Duterte to Donald Trump because unlike the latter, Duterte have held an executive seat for 20 years and transformed Davao City from a dangerous, chaotic place to be the second highest earner in 2015 in terms of GDP and 4th safest city in the world. In Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew was at the helm for 30 years and established an authoritarian government which turned the country to become an economic powerhouse without much resistance from opposing local groups and politicians.

Duterte a stand out amongst other presidential hopefuls
During the campaign period, the 71-year-old solon hailing from the south, stood out with his hard-line approach to criminality promising to suppress crime, illegal drugs and corruption in 3-6 months.

Local News 10:33 PM