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Watch Rodrigo Duterte Give His First Full Interview After Winning The 2016 Philippines Presidential Race

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 14:38 PST, May 11, 2016

Viewers who want to watch Rodrigo Duterte’s first full interview as the next president of the Philippines can see the entire video below, getting a glimpse of a post-election Duterte that has found a softer tone.

Duterte has adopted a quieter demeanor after defeating his rivals in Tuesday’s vote, calling for healing and asking his rivals to join him in moving the nation forward.

Duterte attracted plenty of controversy during the campaign for presidency, from his crude jokes about rape and murder to his connections to extra-judicial “hit squads” that allegedly conducted executions of criminals during his reign as mayor of Davao City.

Both the interview and remarks immediately after he won the race showed that Rodrigo Duterte is aiming to heal after what was a heated campaign. In an interview with CNN Philippines, he appealed both directly to his presidential opponents and to all political rivals to set aside their difference.

“To all my political opponents, all and sundry, not only the presidential bets, I would like to offer my hand to friendship,” he said.

Duterte has also said he is hurt from the propaganda thrown at him during the campaign, but insisted that it is time for all candidates to move past that.

“Let’s begin to forget and start healing,” he said.

Duterte’s opponents had shown signs of coming together to oppose him in the lead-up to the election. Just three days before this week’s vote, outgoing President Benigno Aquino III said he wanted to build a united front among Liberal Party candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and the three other candidates.

Some of Rodrigo Duterte’s opponents have warned that he could become a dictator, and in one of his first interviews after being elected, the former Davao City mayor embraced the term.

“Dictatorship? I will be a dictator against all bad guys, evil people, criminals, drug lords. It will be a harsh condition for them,” Duterte said in Davao City on Monday (via Inquirer).

But Rodrigo Duterte also vowed to be “prim and proper” in his role as president, putting aside his penchant for crude jokes and big threats against criminals. His wayward mouth got him in trouble on the campaign trail, including joking about the rape and murder of a foreign missionary in Davao City during his time as mayor.

“I need to control my mouth. I cannot be bastos (rude) because I am representing our country,” Duterte said (via the Straits Times).

“If you are the president of the country, you need to be prim and proper, almost, maging holy na ako (I would become holy).”

After his big victory on Tuesday, Rodrigo Duterte has been busy putting together his administration. He has reportedly been studying potential cabinet members and taking suggestions, saying his goal is to build a “powerhouse of experienced and competent” leaders, the Inquirer reported.

Duterte has already revealed some of his picks, saying he wants running mate Alan Peter Cayetano to lead either the Department of Foreign Affairs or Department of Justice. There is a one-year ban on losing candidates from holding posts, meaning Cayetano could not take over until 2017.

“I will follow him. If he wants me to take a leadership role, I will accede. But if he wants me to spend time in his transition team and in his presumptive Cabinet, I will accept it,” Cayetano said.

Those who want to watch Rodrigo Duterte’s first full interview as president-elect of the Philippines can find the entire video embedded above.

[Photo by Joe Azar/Getty Images]

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