The Philippines has sworn in controversial former Davao mayor Rodrigo Duterte as the country's 16th president, in a ceremony at Malacanang Palace in Manila.  The country and region are holding their collective breaths to see how this works out.

In his speech, he vowed to right the country's wrongs.  "I see the erosion of the people's trust in their country's leaders," President Duterte said.  "The erosion of faith in our judicial system.  The erosion of confidence in the capacity of our public servants to make the people's lives better, safer and healthier."

The 71-year old campaigned on broad promises of ending corruption and spreading the wealth around the country - with few details on how he'd get this done.  But it was his promise to wage a gruesome and bloody war on crime that pushed him over the top.  Bragging about running death squads in Davao City during his time as mayor, Duterte said he'd reward police for killing criminals without trial, and dump the bodies in Manila Bay.

The police appear to already be following his direction:  At least 40 suspected drug dealers have been killed in encounters since Duterte was elected on 9 May, which is a much higher rate than the previous four months.

"There's a danger that Duterte's electoral victory may be interpreted by some as a symbolic victory for a notion that's already spreading in the Philippines: that extrajudicial vigilante-style killings of suspected criminals is a legitimate approach to crime control," said Phelim Kine, deputy director for Asia of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).  "As President of the Philippines, Duterte will be entrusted with ensuring the protection of the universal rights and freedoms of Filipinos and he therefore needs to be a symbol of rule of law rather than of violent, extrajudicial methods which undermine it," Mr. Kine stressed.

So... good luck with that, Philippines.