DAVAO City Officials were elated by President Rodrigo Duterte's topping of the Time magazine's readers' poll for the annual list of 100 most influential people in the world.
Davao City Councilor Bernard Al-ag said that he is very proud of the president.
"Who would have thought that a leader from Davao City would be one of the world's most influential people? I am very proud of our president. He is an inspiration (for me) to be a better leader," Al-ag said in a text message to VoxPop Davao Monday, April 17.
Davao City Tourism Officer Generose Tecson also said that she is happy with the news.
"I am very happy and proud that Duterte won the Times poll as one of the most influential persons for 2017 and at the same time I feel amused that it had to be Times magazine," she said.
According to an article published by Time on Monday, Duterte snatched the five percent of the total "yes" votes as the poll ended Sunday night, April 16.
Duterte was ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis, United States billionaire Bill Gates and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who all received three percent of the total "yes" votes.
American politician Bernie Sanders topped the reader poll in 2016 while Russian President Vladimir Putin took the lead in 2015.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, in a statement, acknowledged Duterte's winning in the poll.
"With or without the distinction, the President continues to be a hardworking government worker and a faithful servant of the Filipino people," Abella said.
The official Time 100 list, which is picked by the magazine editors, will be announced on April 20. (Ruth Abbey Gita/VoxPop Philippines)