President Rodrigo Duterte Tops TIME 100 Reader Poll

Philippine President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte topped the TIME 100 Reader Poll, which was the magazine’s poll to find out from readers who should be included in their annual TIME 100 list.

According to TIME, readers who voted in the poll chose Duterte as one of the names that should be part of the list. Five percent of the voters said ‘yes’ to the strong man when asked if he should be included in the list.

TIME 100 List Out By April 20

The TIME 100 List which will be officially announced on April 20, is chosen by the editors of the magazine.Last year, the list included artists, world leaders and pioneers in various fields.

Before announcing the 100 Most Influential People of the year, the magazine also asked its readers for their opinion. TIME called on the reading public to send in their votes by April 16, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Voting was done through the magazine’s website.

The poll asks readers to say “Yes” or “No” to a personality on the list. Among the persons on this year’s poll were U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

TIME 100 Reader Poll Results

According to the poll results, Duterte received 5 percent of the “Yes” votes. He leads the pack with that rating, followed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Pope Francis, both of whom got 3 percent.

Among the top 10 in the poll were billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Russian President Vladimir Putin, singers Rihanna and John Legend, and finally Trump.

While TIME has yet to make their final choices, Duterte’s inclusion in the poll is an indication of the strongman’s popularity despite his controversial anti-drug campaign in the country. According to TIME, his war on drugs and the casualty count it has brought about has caught the attention of human rights groups in and outside the country.