​Iron-fisted Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte proclaimed as 16th Philippines President

In a joint session on Monday afternoon, Congress officially proclaimed lawyer iron-fisted Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of the southern city of Davao as the country’s 16th President and lawyer Camarines Sur Congresswoman Leni Robredo as the 14th Vice President.

But Duterte, 71, standard bearer of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP-Laban), skipped his own proclamation at the House of Representatives instead, his lawyers Salvador Panelo and Vitaliano Aguirre represented him in the proclamation rites, alongside the vice president-elect.

According to Philippine Daily Inquirer report, on the day of his proclamation as the new President of the Philippines, Duterte buckled down to work as mayor of Davao City, signing papers and barking orders.

It said the newly proclaimed president has a few weeks left before he leaves his office and goes to Malacañang Palace, the official residence and principal workplace of the country's chief executive.

“He is doing his chores as mayor of Davao. Madami pang (there are still plenty of) documents for signature,” Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Duterte’s executive assistant Bong Go as saying.

Duterte, also ​considered as the tough-talking mayor of Davao City, said during a media briefing at a hotel in Davao City that he had never attended any of his proclamations in his 30 years in public office.

The Constitution does not mandate for the presidential winners to be present or to take their oath at Congress.

Senator Franklin Drilon had earlier explained to reporters that Duterte's attendance during the proclamation was personal and no legal effect if he did not attend in the proclamation.

However, Drilon, the Senate president and vice chairman of the ruling administration Liberal Party who topped the senatorial elections, cited that the proclamation of president and vice president in the Congress as a tradition, "an institution that strengthen our democracy."

Duterte, the first President to hail from Mindanao, won the presidency by a landslide with 16,601,997 votes. Far behind Duterte was Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas II, who got 9,978,175 votes.

In the vice presidential race, Robredo of the administration LP outpaced closest rival Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. by only over 200,000 votes and four other candidates.

Duterte gave a message in Davao City after the proclamation. MGP News