A look at verbal U-turns by Philippines' likely next leader

The following month, however, he switched places with a fellow party member who had registered for the race, saying he decided to run out of dismay over a decision to allow a rival candidate to run despite protests that she was not a natural-born Filipino as the constitution requires.

On the campaign trail, Duterte promised to end crime and corruption in three to six months, an impossible feat that nevertheless resonated with crime-weary Filipinos.

After it became clear Duterte had won the presidency, his spokesman announced plans to visit the Vatican because "he really needs to explain to the pope and ask for forgiveness."

Under his presidency, he said the Philippines will prod China to abide by the upcoming decision of an arbitration court that's handling a Philippine lawsuit against Beijing.

When one of Duterte's harshest critics, Sen. Antonio Trillanes, alleged last month that Duterte had a secret bank account with his daughter with at least 211 million pesos ($4.5 million) that he failed to declare in 2014 as required by law, Duterte's spokesman initially denied the account existed.

Critics, however, proved it existed by depositing a token amount to get a receipt that showed the names of Duterte and his daughter, prompting Duterte to acknowledge he had the account.

In his most infamous campaign joke, Duterte said he had wished to be the first in line to rape a beautiful Australian missionary who was sexually abused and killed by inmates during a 1989 Davao jail riot.

With criticism growing during the campaign homestretch, his spokesman and political party issued an apology on his behalf in which Duterte apologized to the Filipino people and said, "I am a man of many flaws and contradictions."