Heads Of State

"Interviewer: Why is it important to be here in Serbia at EHF EURO 2012?"

"Samba-Panza became the first female president of her country, and one of the few on the continent. Women were overjoyed, both on the streets of Bangui and in the parliament that had elected her. Her gender was decisive to her political rise,"

"In times of crisis, every country must find its own solutions"

"I call on my children, especially the anti-balaka, to put down their arms and stop all the fighting. The same goes for the ex-Seleka - they should not have fear. I don't want to hear any more talk of murders and killings. Starting today, I am the president of all Central Africans, without exclusion."

"Interviewer: Are you in a hurry to finish your term as the Interim President? Catherine Samba-Panza: I am not in a hurry but I believe that I had a specific mission which I accomplished. When I came into office, I knew that I was going to respect the rules, namely that I was not allowed to run for president in the following elections. I am proud to leave my position having respected these rules and to hand over a governable country to the new leaders that come out of the polls."

"The migrant and refugee crisis is deepening and reaching a critical level. It used to take refugees and migrants six to eight months to reach their destination countries. Now they can do it in just a few days. Today united Europe has more walls than divided Europe had during the Cold War. Greece is facing a possible humanitarian crisis, and there are armies in a state of alert deployed on the borders of Balkan countries"

"He has taken a personal vendetta against me because he has not forgotten when I was chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and I led an investigation into the Davao Death Squad."

"We do have an unfit President. He just confessed to doing the killing of people in Davao and we know that he's the one promoting and encouraging and tolerating these killings and therefore, that is an impeachable offense."

"Duterte has long attempted to shut down the Rappler, which has published groundbreaking work on Duterte’s deadly so-called war on drugs that’s killed thousands of people. Duterte has repeatedly described the site as “fake news.” PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE: "You are a—a fake news outlet. And I am not surprised that your articles are also fake." AMY GOODMAN: Duterte has also called reporters who ask him tough questions “spies,” and warned that, quote, “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination.” While Duterte’s government has attempted to silence Maria Ressa, her journalism has been praised around the world."

"[On Justin Trudeau, the Canadian PM] For God's sake, Mr. Trudeau, my own citizens are rebelling against us; killing my soldiers and policemen and civilians. And I cannot use the helicopter because they are citizens but they are out to overthrow my government. If you cannot understand [that], you should not be there in that mighty post of yours. Because you do not know the history of the world and geopolitics."

"Your incoherent and foul-mouthed rant against two of the country’s major media outfits – the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN – was not only unwarranted, it was absolutely twisted. It was a brazen abuse of your immense power as chief executive of this land and only shows how little, if any, appreciation you have of democracy and governance."

"[On Agnès Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur] Kaya sabi ko, Callamard, kung imbestigahan mo ako, sampalin kita."

"On the : "Kaibiganin natin para walang gulo.""

"After being criticized by Australian ambassador Amanda Gorely and American ambassador Philip Goldberg: It would do well with the American ambassador and the Australian ambassador to shut their mouths."

"Your concern is human rights; mine is human lives."

"Mr. Obama, you can go to hell."

"By his own policies and actions, Duterte has defined his legacy. It is a malignant one characterized by treason, tyranny, butchery, corruption and deception."

"If I become president, I advise you people to put up several funeral parlor businesses because I am against illegal drugs... I might kill someone because of it."

"On drug addicts: If they are there in your neighbourhood, feel free to call us, the police or do it yourself if you have the gun. You have my support. If he fights and fights to the death, you can kill him. I will give you a medal... If you are involved in drugs, I will kill you. You son of a whore, I will really kill you."

"On US Ambassador Philip Goldberg: We were speaking to Kerry, he's OK but I had a fight with their ambassador, that gay son of a whore. He pissed me off. He was meddling in the elections, giving statements here and there. He wasn't supposed to do that."

"‘Yang aming away ko sa Katoliko amin lang yan personal. Kayong mga adik, 'wag ninyong totohanin ‘yong pukpokin yung bishop at kardinal, hindi sila kasali sa political ruckus."

"Ako ang nasusunod kaya I feel so responsible sa mga pulis ko pati sa mga militar."

"Adre, hindi ako atat na atat maging presidente. (I am a disposable president because that is this the ---) ‘yon dapat ang ano. Kasi kung ayaw ninyo, kung galit kayo, o ‘di tanggalin ninyo ako, mag-coup d’état kayo."

"Because they (the ) threatened to go down from the mountains to burn down Marawi? Go ahead, be my guest. We will wait for you there. Walang problema (No problem)."

"Kaya pagdating ko sabi ko, ‘Hoy, kayong mga tambay diyan, 'pag dumaan 'yang obispo ninyo holdapan 'yan maraming pera 'yan putang ina niya. Patayin mo.’"

"There was a strange aftertaste to many of the calls for grand social reform in 2020. As the coronavirus crisis overtook us, the left wing on both sides of the Atlantic, at least that part that had been fired up Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, was going down to defeat. The promise of a radicalized and reenergized left, organized around the idea of the Green New Deal, seemed to dissipate amidst the pandemic. It fell to governments mainly of the center and the right to meet the crisis. They were a strange assortment. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States experimented with denial. For them climate skepticism and virus skepticism went hand in hand. In Mexico, the notionally left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador also pursued a maverick path, refusing to take drastic action. Nationalist strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey did not deny the virus, but relied on their patriotic appeal and bullying tactics to see them through. It was the managerial centrist types who were under most pressure. Figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the United States, or Sebastián Piñera in Chile, or Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and their ilk in Europe. They accepted the science. Denial was not an option. They were desperate to demonstrate that they were better than the 'populists.' To meet the crisis, very middle-of-the-road politicians ended up doing very radical things. Most of it was improvisation and compromise, but insofar as they managed to put a programmatic gloss on their responses—whether in the form of the EU's Next Generation program or Biden's Build Back Better program in 2020—it came from the repertoire of green modernization, sustainable development, and the Green New Deal."

"[To Lumad schools] Umalis kayo diyan. Sabihin ko diyan sa mga Lumad ngayon, umalis kayo diyan. Bobombahan ko iyan. Isali ko iyang mga istraktura. (I will tell the Lumad there, get out of there. I will bomb you and include the structures.) I will use the Armed Forces, the Philippine Air Force. Talagang bobombahan ko 'yung mga... lahat ng ano ninyo. (I will really bomb all of it.) Because you are operating illegally and you are teaching the children to rebel against government... [Kung] may kalokohan kayo, edi mas lalo na ako. (If you are messing around, then so am I.)"

"[On Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines causing traffic jams] Gusto kong tawagan, ‘Pope putang ina ka, umuwi ka na. ‘Wag ka nang magbisita dito."

"[To jeepney transport groups] Pag hindi niyo na-modernize yan, umalis kayo. Mahirap kayo? Putang ina, sige! Mag... magtiis kayo sa hirap at gutom. Wala akong pakialam."

"Hindi ba kayo nagtaka kung sabihin ninyo nagpapalakas ako sa military? Tingnan mo 'yung Cabinet ko, kalahati puro retired generals. Kalahati ng Cabinet members, predominantly diyan."

"[On the International Criminal Court (ICC)] I said you’re all bullshit. They want to send me to prison and try me for genocide… They are a bunch of criminals, they cannot even show me how they died, when they died, where. Nothing."

"I am proud to say that President Duterte was my student in political science at the Lyceum of the Philippines when I was still a young professorial lecturer. He became a member of the Kabataang Makabayan of which I was the national chairman."

"We won't kill you. We will just shoot your [female rebels] vagina so that if there are no vaginas, it would be useless."

"Kulong? Ay 'sus. Kulong, eh noong teenager ako pasok-labas-pasok ako sa kulungan. Rambol dito, rambol – at the age of 16, may pinatay na ako. Tao talaga. Rambol. Saksak. Noong 16 years old iyon, nagkatinginan lang."

"If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination."

"[To Davao citizens] You go back in time[...] Gaganito ba kaganda ang Davao kung niwaldas ko yung discretionary fund ko (intelligence fund)? Gaganito kaya... You know the history of Davao. Nandiyan si pastor [Apollo Quiboloy]. Kayo lahat, you're a living witness na maganda ang Davao. How did it came about? How did it flourish? Kinain ko yung intelligence fund, ang intelligence fund, binili ko, pinapatay ko lahat. Kaya gano'n ang Davao. Yung mga kasama ninyo, pinatigok ko talaga. Iyon ang totoo."

"(I hate corruption.) Hindi ako nagmamakalinis. Marami rin akong nanakaw pero naubos na. So, wala na."

"What I don't like are kids (being raped.) You can mess with, maybe Miss Universe. Maybe I will even congratulate you for having the balls to rape somebody when you know you are going to die for your crime."

"He must be stupid, this ex-President of Colombia [saying] Duterte is committing the same mistake. We cannot, never be on the same mistake because I am not stupid; you are."

"New York Times… Asshole, asshole. You cannot even criticize your own mistake. Invading a country, making up excuses before the world that is not true, then you have the gall to say stop. You better stop your publishing."

"Bakit ikaw ba pupunta ng Mexico ngayon? (Why will you go to Mexico now?) Could you enjoy going to Mexico with kidnappings and killings there?"

"Ang pumasok sa isip ko, ni-rape nila, pinagpilahan nila. Nagalit ako kasi ni-rape, oo, isa rin iyun. Pero napakaganda, dapat ang mayor muna ang mauna. Sayang."

"[Remarks on disabled people] Iyong isa doon, classmate ko pa. Eh na-stroke, paganoon-ganoon [mimics]. Gusto ko sabihin, "Pakamatay ka na lang.""

"I don't care If I go to hell as long as the people I serve will live in paradise."

"Pero sa totoo lang, sanay ako magbaril ng tao. Mag-graduate na lang kami sa San Beda, may binaril akong tao."

"Sabi nila diktador ako...so be it!"

"If I make it, God willing, to the presidency, I will be the first Left president in this country."

"When you criticize me, do not use the platform of God... Do not take God's name in vain because pag-resbak ko, makasali ko na 'yung Panginoong Diyos. (when I retaliate, I will include God.)"

"I would rather lose the election than lose my identity."

"Anybody can criticize me, except for foreigners."