Davao city mayor Rodrigo Duterte AKA The PUNISHER!!

This is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who has the reputation of THE PUNISHER like in the marvel comic book movie where he is a vigilante and has a strict "tough on crime" policy which is "Kill first, ask questions later".

The island of Mindanao circled here in red has had a lot of instability over the many decades with terror groups and crime and since Rodrigo Duterte has taken over as Davao Mayor he has transformed it into one of the safest cities in the Philippines over his 26 years as Mayor.

I am not usually interested in politics or especially Philippine politics but since reading about the Philippines and talking to other expats and western travelers here the Mayor of Davao is the only one that comes up once in awhile as a guy who is a vigilante against crime and not interested in the slow judicial system of "due process" for criminals and usually puts his support behind death squads that go out and locate these "suspected" criminals and has them all executed. In the media he gives quotes saying he will kill anyone who does serious crime in Davao including RICE SMUGGLING lol! He is like the real life Buford Pusser from the "Walking Tall" movie which was a true story.

He has a lot of supporters and highly admired for his hardline stance against crime and has made Davao City one of the safest now in the Philippines but he does have his detractors which believe in going through the court systems before being found guilty and not his vigilante style of going out there being judge, jury, and executioner of suspected criminals.

One of his many quotes:
“If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination,” Mr Duterte said in 2009.

A couple of articles about him here:
http://eyeforaneye.vice.com/editorial/the-punisher
http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/the-philippines-reallife-punisher-davao-city-mayor-rodrigo-duterte-urged-to-run-for-president/story-fnh81fz8-1226973937374