Mr. Duterte credits this near-win to his strict opinions about maintaining law and order.
Although all ballots have not been counted as of yet, those that have been considered show a certain victory for controversial anti-crime candidate, Rodrigo Duterte in the Presidential race. The PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) said that after the sorting of nearly 90% of the ballots, Mr.Duterte came first will 14.8mn votes (39%), closely followed by Manuel Roxas with 9mn votes (23%). The PPCRV is sanctioned by the Election Commission to carry out the vote counting process but its figures are not official figures.
Having been a stringent maintainant of law and order in the southern town of Davao as a Mayor, it has been a constant on his manifesto of public life to endure low crime rates and justice. Davao, a town known in the past for its soaring level of crime and poor judicial dispension, was disciplined by Duterte during his tenure and gave him the title of ‘The Punisher’. Accepting the mandate with ‘utmost humility’, Mr. Duterte believes that it is this moniker of ‘The Punisher’ that struck a cord with Filipino voters.
At the same time, issues like widespread bureaucratic corruption, deep poverty and inequality have raged through the fast-growing nation under the last government, led by outgoing President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, who is not participating in the elections because the Constitution limits candidates to just one six-year tenure as President. Mr. Duterte, to the question of being able to counter these problems, has said, “What I can promise you is that I will do my very best not just in my waking hours but even in my sleep.”
Surprised by the massive voter turnout, election officials that they have recorded at least 81% voting out of the total 54 million registered voters in the Asian nation. Around 18,000 local officials are also being elected alongside Senators. The Vice- President of the state is largely expected to be Leni Robredo, a social activist who is leading the election monitors,slightly ahead of Bongbong Marcos, the son of a former dictator of Phillipines, Ferdinand Marcos.
Senator Grace Poe, who was previously believed to be the likely forerunner in the Presidential race, came third in the initial polls and withdrew her candidacy, while promising to ‘co-operate with the healing process’ after a tumultuous campaign run. Talking about Duterte’s apparent win, she stated, “Duterte has a mandate. Let’s giving him a chance.”
Mr. Aquino, who had earlier tried to bring other candidates together against Duterte, claiming him to be the one who would take Philippines back to dictatorship, was provoked by the rather gripping statements that Duterte had made throughout his campaign. He had said that he would kill criminals and drug-abusers publicly and dissolve congress in case of a disagreement. He had also humorously spoken about the rape of an Australian missionary, while assuring that he would sail to disputed regions (with China) in the South China Sea and put up a Filipino flag there.
These regions of dispute have been for long a bone of contention between the two countries and the Philippines has also taken it to arbitration at the Hague, insisting on multilateral talks including the USA and Japan.
Source (Story and Images): BBC, Al Jazeera
Tags: Phillipines Rodrigo Duterte
