President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines won the 2017 TIME 100 poll of readers on who they consider to be the most influential people in the world.
Duterte consistently led the survey, which asked readers who should be included on this year’s TIME 100 — an annual list of the world’s most influential people.
Duterte received five percent of the total “yes” votes in the poll, TIME magazine announced on April 16.
Since taking office in June, Duterte has waged an aggressive war on drugs.
Closely following Duterte in the TIME 100 poll were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. They each received three percent of the total “yes” votes.
The poll was posted on March 24 and asked “Who should be on the 2017 TIME 100?”
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders won the reader poll in 2016.
Russian President Vladimir Putin took the lead in 2015.
The official TIME 100 list, which is selected by TIME’s editors, is scheduled to be announced on April 20.
TIME magazine is the biggest weekly news magazine in the world.
In December, Duterte also landed on the Most Powerful People list of Forbes magazine.
Duterte has made international headlines with a campaign against drugs.
He has also announced a “separation” from the United States and plans to realign the Philippines with China and Russia.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol criticized the “slow and poor” media operations of Malacañang even as Duterte gained international recognition after being named as TIME 100 reader’s online poll winner.
Piñol said that, as a former newsman, he was witnessing the poor handling of Malacañang media operations.
“I frankly see that. Their operation is poor, they are being left behind in releasing stories, and independent media entities even come ahead of them,” Piñol said.
He said he had already taken up the problem with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.
But he said he believed Malacañang’s media operations would hardly affect Duterte because “the guy doesn’t care.”
He brushed aside claims that Malacañang ran a media campaign when Time magazine launched its online poll for the Time 100.
“What I’m saying is there was no such operation because the basis of that statement is the fact that they cannot even organize very well the media operations of Malacañang,” Piñol said.
“How much more a contest or popularity contest that has nothing to do with governance in the Philippines?”
Piñol said Duterte’s out-of-town activities were not being given “extensive” coverage as he chided media entities for focusing on the President’s cuss words and remarks on his campaign against illegal drugs.
He said that did not give justice to the programs that the President was doing for the Filipino people.
“The media is merely watching his cuss words, drugs; they’re just watching them because they’re always on the front page,” Piñol said.
The TIME 100 is made up of notable figures in politics, arts, science and more. Although TIME’s editors ultimately choose the TIME 100, they want to know what the readers think.
