Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte has openly announced several times that if he wins the presidency in the 2016 elections, he will place the entire Philippines under dictatorship. This may be the only time in history that a presidential candidate is asking the people to vote for him so he can place them under a forced rule. He also mentioned that he would place the entire country under curfew in an interview on radio DZMM.

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The presidential aspirant ran and won as mayor of Davao City in 1988 and stayed in his post for 3 consecutive terms ending in 1998. He then ran for Congress representing the 1^st District of Davao City. He was elected to his 4^th term as mayor in Davao in 2001 and reelected again in 2004 and 2007. After reaching his term limit a second time, he ran as vice mayor to his daughter and then finally receiving a new mandate as mayor in 2013.

The former mayor of Davao city is known to be hard on criminals and has not denied the rumors of the existence of a death squad who does summary executions of those they find guilty of crime. The vigilante group dubbed "Davao Death Squad" was believed to be responsible for the presumed deaths of more than 700 people who disappeared between 2005 and 2008.

In an interview with Rappler.com, the former mayor confirms his implications on the extra-judicial killings. He said "It's a public record that cases have been filed against me, and they say that my name was even in the High Commission of the Human Rights Commission of the United States. Well, that's part of a day's work, I would say."

In one of his earlier interviews with GMA News' Duterte said he does not care being tagged as a dictator. He insists that he is merely doing his job as the father of Davao, the city he was previously mayor of . "If they want to call me a dictator, so be it!" Duterte told TV News Reporter Jessica Soho.

With his strong statements about placing the country under a dictatorship, people are expected to react negatively. However, if the recent surveys by SWS is to be believed, Duterte is currently leading the polls.

With supporters embracing this approach to governace without question or scrutiny is troubling. Almost thirty years ago, Filipino people toppled a dictatorship through a non-violent revolt. Now it seems like the Philippines, or a significant percentage of the population, is willing to go along with it.

TagsRodrigo Duterte, Philippine presidential elections 2016