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Opinion

Will it take another street fighter to defeat Duterte?

Walls close in on a presidency that emerged from the Philippines' darkest corners

| Philippines
Rodrigo Duterte holds a vial of Sinovac vaccine from China on Feb. 28: the vaccines he was hoping to get from China are not coming as fast he had promised.   © Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division/AP

Criselda Yabes is a journalist based in the Philippines. She is author of "The Battle of Marawi," her 10th book, which was published last year.

The Spanish word sanggano, imported into the Filipino lexicon, describes the type of bully that is often alluded to as the archetype for President Rodrigo Duterte and that was so important in getting him elected in the first place.

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