President Rodrigo Duterte is ending the year as popular as ever, but the past 12 months have not been without serious challenges to his boundary-pushing rule. Mr Duterte responded to these challenges by upping the ante. Mr Duterte will also have to shepherd through a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim insurgent group. As the nation’s chief diplomat, Mr Duterte steered Asean through the year with minimal discord. And the booming economy continues to run on autopilot, with a further boost expected from Mr Duterte’s ambitious US$180 billion (S$242 billion) “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 26, 2017 10:18 UTC