What is Rodrigo Duterte's Net Worth and Salary?
Rodrigo Duterte is a politician and lawyer who has a net worth of $550 thousand. Rodrigo Duterte served as the 16th president of the Philippines, having been elected in 2016. Prior to this, he served as mayor of the city of Davao for over 20 non-consecutive years. During both his mayoral and presidential tenures, Duterte was notorious for his violent war on crime and drugs, which involved the extrajudicial murders of thousands of alleged criminals and street children.
According to his last financial disclosure, Rodrigo Duterte's net worth was roughly 28.5 million Philippine pesos. That's equal to around $550,000 USD.
Early Life and Education
Rodrigo Duterte was born on March 28, 1945 in Maasin, Leyte in what was then the Commonwealth of the Philippines. His mother, Soledad, was a schoolteacher and community leader, while his father, Vicente, was a lawyer and the mayor of the city Danao. When his father subsequently became the provincial governor of the Davao province, Duterte moved with his family to the region. There, he finished his primary education at Santa Ana Elementary School, and completed his secondary education at the Holy Cross College of Digos after being expelled twice from previous high schools. Duterte went on to earn his BA in political science from the Lyceum of the Philippines in 1968. He subsequently enrolled at the San Beda College of Law, from which he obtained his law degree in 1972.
Career Beginnings
Beginning his career in law, Duterte served as a special counsel at the City Prosecution Office in Davao from 1977 to 1979. Following this, he became fourth assistant city prosecutor, a position he held until 1981. Duterte went on to serve as third assistant city prosecutor and then as second assistant city prosecutor, leaving the latter position in 1986.
Mayor of Davao
Following the 1986 People Power Revolution that resulted in the end of President Ferdinand Marcos' regime, Duterte was made vice mayor of Davao City. He subsequently ran for mayor, winning in 1988. Duterte served as mayor of Davao until 1998, at which time he ran for the House of Representatives and became congressman of the 1st district of Davao. Later, in 2001, Duterte ran for mayor again and was elected; he won reelection in 2004 and again in 2007. As mayor, Duterte was controversial for his involvement in the extrajudicial killings of over 1,000 alleged criminals and children. He expressed his support for the Davao Death Squad, the vigilante group responsible for the murders.
2016 Presidential Election
In 2016, Duterte ran for president of the Philippines. His campaign focused on constitutional reform and the eradication of crime, with Duterte promising to have tens of thousands of alleged criminals murdered. He ultimately won the election against Mar Roxas, becoming the country's 16th president and the oldest to ever be elected, at the age of 71.
(Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
President of the Philippines
As president, Duterte emphasized domestic policy aimed at curbing the illegal drug trade in the Philippines. He launched his controversial war on drugs, facilitating the mass murder of thousands of alleged criminals, and also strengthened efforts to fight terrorism and supposed communist threats. Among his other initiatives, he started a major infrastructure plan, made a number of liberal economic reforms, and unsuccessfully attempted to decentralize the government by transitioning to a federal parliamentary government. Duterte also oversaw the 2017 siege of Marawi, a five-month-long conflict between Philippine security forces and Islamic State militants.
Overall, Duterte's tenure as president was extremely controversial. His authoritarianism, litany of human rights abuses, questionable foreign policies, and offensive, profanity-laden public comments sparked protests and international censure. Despite this, his aggressive nationalism and populist image drew much support from Philippine residents, resulting in relatively high approval ratings in his country. Although he originally announced his intention to run for vice president of the Philippines in the 2022 election, Duterte announced his retirement from politics in late 2021. He formed a transition committee in May of 2022 to facilitate the peaceful transition of power to the incoming presidential administration.
Health
Duterte has a number of ailments, including Buerger's disease, which causes inflamed blood vessels, and Barrett's esophagus, which causes esophageal cells to be replaced by gastrointestinal cells. Additionally, he announced that he has the neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis.
Personal Life
In 1973, Duterte married flight attendant Elizabeth Zimmerman. They had three children named Paolo, Sara, and Sebastian. While married, Duterte engaged in numerous affairs with other women, resulting in the ultimate annulment of his marriage to Zimmerman in 2000. Later, Duterte had a common-law marriage to nurse Cielito Avanceña, also known as Honeylet Avanceña. Together, they have a daughter named Veronica.
