As he nears the end of his six-year term, President Duterte said that he did not need government employees to perform miracles, but they just needed to put their hearts into their work.

"I do not expect you to go and perform miracles. All that I need is iyong talagang puso ang ilagay mo (you put your heart in it)," he said in a speech in Manila on May 19.

"Then, if you succeed, good. If you are halfway through it, still good," he added.

Duterte expressed his gratitude anew to those who made him president in 2016.

"Before I go out of the presidency, let me, from the bottom of my heart, express my gratitude to you all for allowing me to journey the presidency for six years," he said.

The President acknowledged that not everybody liked him, but he still treated everybody equally.

"Alam ko na ang Pilipino bumoto sa akin. Huwag na nating pag-usapan 'yung walang bumoto (I know that many Filipinos voted for me, let's not talk about those who didn't). I served the country irrespective of each tribal division," he said.

Duterte, in particular, said that he had infrastructure projects under his Build, Build, Build program in all regions and not just in the areas where he won in 2016.

"Makita mo naman ang infrastructures ngayon (You will see the infrastructures now) because when I was President, sinabi ko talaga sa mga (I said) — distribute the money equally lahat ng region (in every region) whether I won in that place or not," the President said.

"Everywhere you — there's an infrastructure. Those are the things, maliit lang na bagay (just little things)," he added.