Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte mental health assessment reveals tendency to 'violate rights and feelings'
Experts believe leader engages in 'unhealthy and destructive behaviours'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The president of the Philippines is a “highly impulsive individual who has difficulty controlling his urges and emotions” and suffers from a long-term psychological condition, according to a rediscovered assessment of his mental health.
A psychological report on Rodrigo Duterte was commissioned by Dr Natividad Dayan during the annulment of his marriage to ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman in July 1998, when Mr Duterte was mayor of Davao City.
The assessment found Mr Duterte suffered from “antisocial narcissistic personality disorder”, a pattern of abnormal behaviour characterised by "gross indifference, insensitivity and self-centeredness" and "grandiose sense of self-entitlement and manipulative behaviours".
The politician was described as having a “pervasive tendency to demean, humiliate others and violate their rights and feelings”, and was “unable to reflect on the consequences of his actions.”
He was found to readily engage in “unhealthy and destructive behaviours” and had “poor capacity for objective judgement”, failing to “see things in the light of facts”.
Mr Duterte recently made headlines for launching expletive-laden attacks against the EU and US president Barack Obama, as thousands continue to be killed without trial as part of the leader’s war on illegal drugs.
Court papers from the trial showed Dr Dayan concluded Mr Duterte was “psychologically incapacitated to handle essential marital obligations”, due to his “inability for loyalty and commitment” and “lack of capacity for remorse and guilt".
During the court case, lawyers also spoke of Mr Duterte’s “womanising” ways and detailed claims of numerous affairs he was involved in while married to Ms Zimmerman.
In her testimony, Ms Zimmerman described her marriage to Duterte as “miserable and unhappy” and criticised his volatile temper, according to ABS-CBN News.
Filipino actress Agot Isidro recently launched an angry online tirade against Mr Duterte, describing him as a "psychopath" and telling him to "get checked".
More than 3,600 people have been killed in Mr Duterte’s first 100 days in office as part of his brutal crackdown on drugs, human rights experts have estimated.
The president recently said his extrajudicial crackdown on drug dealers and criminals will continue because he “cannot kill them all”.
Amnesty International said Mr Duterte’s “first 100 days as President have been marked by state-sanctioned violence on a truly shocking scale”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments