A key part of Dutertismo is the relationship between adherents like Duterte with China, administered by the Chinese Communist Party. The ideology deeply pursues a highly pro-China foreign policy. The Duterte family has a deep history with communist China. During the administration of Rodrigo Duterte, he personally met and spoke through other connections numerous Chinese officials including Chinese president Xi Jinping and other high-ranking members of the Chinese communist party. Duterte himself called the South China Sea Arbitration victory of the Philippines against China as a 'piece of paper' he will throw as trash.
Under his watch, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) allowed Chinese nationals to “exercise leadership and management roles”, awarded 43 contracts to Chinese firms, and made it 40-percent owned by the State Grid Corporation of China. It was also under his watch that Chinese espionage work intensified in the Philippines beginning in 2016. Duterte also legalized and expanded Chinese-controlled Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), which is connected to fake Filipino citizenships for Chinese citizens like Alice Guo.
While Duterte's daughter, vice president Sara Duterte who is also known for her pro-China statements, has been implicated for receiving through her linked corporation P319 million in remittances from China and another P150 million siphoned as “donation” by the Chinese government to Duterte's Malasakit Foundation as confirmed by the Anti–Money Laundering Council (AMLC). The corporation involved has also been confirmed as linked to the Embassy of China.
The Dutertes have personally met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during high-ranking state meetings. Both Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sara Duterte shook hands with Netanyahu as a sign of support amid the Gaza genocide. Rodrigo Duterte is also known for falsely claiming that his children from his ex-wife were Jewish by blood due to their Zimmerman roots. Genealogists and historians have confirmed that the Zimmermans are not Jewish.
In 2023, Rodrigo Duterte adviced Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to eliminate Palestinians and "make Gaza the world's biggest cemetery." while Sara Duterte showed full support to Israel by visiting the Embassy of Israel in the Philippines, conveying her allyship with Israeli ambassador Ilan Fluss. The Duterte family members, including Sebastian 'Baste' Duterte have personally met with Israel's ambassadors and officials multiples times across their political careers.
War on drugs and crime
The Philippine drug war or locally known as the "War on Drugs" is a key Dutertist policy that began in 2016, the idea or the local versions of it originated from when Rodrigo Duterte was Mayor in Davao City and popularized when it became a campaign promise. It is a policy that "eradicates crime" by killing criminals such as drug addicts, drug lords, and other criminals, even urging his supporters to kill drug addicts themselves. In reality, many of those killed by the drug war were civilian women and children, many of which were not involved in drugs at all. While those that were involved were small-time addicts, while not a single major drug lord was captured. This is the most controversial Dutertist policy with official tallies saying 6,252 died from 2016 to 2022, however, an investigation from the International Criminal Court estimated that 12,000 to 30,000 people were killed from July 2016 to March 2019. While Duterte established an anti-drug image, it was later revealed that his own children such as Sebastian Duterte and Kitty Duterte have been using illegal drugs with photo evidences. Additionally, the Anti–Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has confirmed that Chinese drug lord Sammy Uy, who was appointed by Duterte as his economic adviser, gave a minimum of P181.6 million in payments via cashier’s and personal checks to various members of the Duterte family from 2011 to 2013 alone. In 2025, Duterte was arrested by the ICC and charged with crimes against humanity due to the war on drugs, which has since been branded as a fake drug war made only to cover-up the drug connections of the Duterte family.
Capital punishment
During Rodrigo Duterte 2016 presidential campaign, he advocated and promised the restoration of the death penalty by public hanging. It is a common Dutertist policy many supporters are in favor for, it would restore it as the solution to end crimes like drugs, rape, and kidnapping and the execution of criminals. However, since 2006, the death penalty was abolished in the Philippines. Bills have been filed for the restoration of this but none have passed, with the latest one being in January 2025, Congressman then Zamboanga City mayorKhymer Adan Olaso, a Duterte ally filing a bill to have corrupt officials get sentenced to firing squad., which was unsuccessful. During the Mary Jane Veloso drug smuggling case, where Filipino victim Mary Jane Veloso was imprisoned by Indonesia, Duterte told the Indonesian government to kill Veloso, despite Veloso being a victim of human trafficking.
Militarism
During Rodrigo Duterte's presidency, Duterte admitted of militarization of government after appointing retired military officers to posts that are unrelated to national security. Duterte also asked the military to "take over" the Bureau of Customs. He defended former military and police personnel, saying they are less likely to "debate" with him.
Symbols
Duterte fist
The Duterte fist also known as the "Duterte pose" is a hand gesture made by Rodrigo Duterte, his allies, and his supporters before and during his presidency, its made by raising a clenched fist at chest or eye level. The gesture is regarded as a signature symbol of Duterte and Dutertismo. However critics say the gesture is a symbol of the Philippine drug war and right wing populism in the Philippines. The gesture is also used in the logo of the PDP.
Color green
The color Green was first used as the official campaign color for Rodrigo Duterte's 2016 presidential campaign and was popularized by Sara Duterte during the 2022 Philippine vice presidential election during her campaign to run for vice president under UniTeam. The color is widely used as the official color of Dutertismo and Duterte allies. On Rodrigo Duterte's 80th birthday during his detainment in The Hague, supporters painted Davao City in green.
↑Aries A. Arugay (April 22, 2026). "Duterte's Populist Foreign Policy as Illiberal Defiance: Consequences and Prospects". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved July 19, 2026. By that time, his bloody war on drugs was in full throttle and there had been thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and users. This was the core of Duterte's penal populism and illiberal defiance toward norms such as human rights, which had been traditionally a key tenet of Philippine foreign policy.
12Alan Scott; D. B. Subedi; Howard Brasted; Karin von Strokirch, eds. (September 29, 2023). The Routledge Handbook of Populism in the Asia Pacific. Taylor & Francis. p.2019. ... during the 2016 election, Duterte claimed to belong to the centre-left and made several economic populist promises such as the end of labour contractualization, universal health cover, free tuition for state universities, a hike in pensions, and increased salaries for government personnel, especially the police and military.
↑David, Randy (May 1, 2016). "'Dutertismo'". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
↑Parmanand, Sharmila (2023). Brysk, Alison (ed.). "Democratic backsliding and threats to human rights in Duterte's Philippines". Populism and Human Rights in a Turbulent Era. Edward Elgar Publishing: 106. Indeed, the cult of personality around Duterte is reflected in his supporters' dual reference to him as 'The Punisher' and 'Tatay Digong'[...]
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