So I'm not sure if anyone here keeps up with Philippine politics. Despite being half Filipino myself, I don't really tend to. However, this last presidential race has been an interesting one. Here's the summary.

The new president (Rodrigo Duterte) will be taking office on the 30th of June after winning the election by an overwhelming majority. He served for over 22 years as the mayor of Davao City. A city which at a one point was the drugs and murder capital of the Philippines. That is, until Duterte came into office. Using... 'unorthodox' methods such as vigilante executioners, he managed to cut crime in the city by a massive margin, transforming Davao into probably the safest, cleanest city in the Philippines. Such methods earned him affectionate nicknames such as "Duterte Harry" and "The Punisher". In addition to his zero-tolerance policy to violent crime, he seems to be actively pursuing peace with the NPA (a terrorist group according to the U.S. and E.U.), anti government corruption, and outspoken against the corruption/policies of the Catholic Church.

Now begins the subjective part of this post.

I'm very torn by what Duterte brings to the table as a president.

Half of my relatives (including my mother) are big fans of Duterte. As far as they are concerned, his track record proves he's reliable and will get results. They're sick of the crime, drugs, and seeing criminals worm their way out of punishment via government and judicial corruption. Even despite being mayor of Davao for over two decades, he has always lived a relatively simple life. If anyone is going to get results, it's going to be Duterte, they say.

On the other hand, you can't just go around the streets shooting criminals in the face. And not only shooting criminals in the face, but encouraging your average Joe to go out and shoot criminals in the face. It may have worked miracles in Davao, where he could (and did) easily go out an patrol the streets himself. But as a president, with the international community's eye on you, you look like some sort of dictator. In fact, it seems like a pretty slippery slope from there to a dictatorship. Not to mention, completely bypassing the legal system and executing people just sounds like a recipe for disaster in so many ways.

So, as the title suggests, does the end justify the means? His actions are morally... 'murky', at best, but they seem to get results. Is a "good" dictator really the best form of government (which is what Duterte seems to be aspiring to be)?

At the very least, I think "The Punisher" is a character we'll be seeing much more in the headlines when he comes into office at the end of the month.

I've linked the most objective information source I could (Wikipedia) if anyone wants to do any further reading on the guy.