Philippines Election - BBC: Hardliner Duterte 'Set For Presidency'

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Media captionRodrigo Duterte has a persuasive story to tell, Jonathan Head reports

Hardline anti-crime candidate Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte looks set to become president of the Philippines after polls gave him an unassailable lead.

Mr Duterte, who stirred controversy during campaigning with his incendiary comments, said he accepted the apparent mandate with "extreme humility".

An accredited poll monitor said he led with most ballots counted, but this does not represent an official result.

The 71-year-old credited his success to his tough stance on law and order.

His record as the crime-crushing mayor of the southern town of Davao, once notorious for its lawlessness, earned him the moniker The Punisher and resonated with voters.

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Image captionElection officials have said there was a record turnout at polling stations

Other driving issues of the election campaign were pervasive corruption, as well as the poverty and inequality experienced by many Filipinos despite economic growth under outgoing President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino.

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Analysis: Jonathan Head, BBC News, Manila

Rodrigo Duterte, a man dubbed by his rivals as an executioner who would bring terror to the Philippines, has won the presidency by a clear margin, polling nearly twice as many votes as his nearest rivals.

But what is less clear is what he will do with the job. His blunt promise to sweep away criminals and corrupt officials won him the backing of millions of Filipinos weary of ineffective governments.

But he has so far offered few policy details. A spokesman has already pledged a radical overhaul of the political system. Human rights groups have warned he may repeat what happened in the southern city of Davao, where as mayor he is accused of allowing death squads to murder hundreds of alleged criminals.

Mr Duterte has a formidable task in a country still hampered by poverty and poor infrastructure - just meeting the lofty expectations he raised during his campaign will be hard enough.

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'I will do my best'

Election officials have said there was a record turnout at polling stations, with more than 81% of the 54 million registered voters casting a ballot. Senators and about 18,000 local officials including mayors are also being elected.

The vice president looks likely to be Leni Robredo, a social activist who is currently slightly ahead of Bongbong Marcos, the son of a former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) poll monitor said that with 90% of the presidential ballots counted, Mr Duterte had more than 14.8m votes - about 39%. The PPCRV is accredited by the election commission to monitor counting but its reporting does not represent an official tally.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionGrace Poe said it was time to give Mr Duterte "a chance"

The winner is decided on a simple majority of votes cast. Manuel Roxas is in second place with 9m (23%). Senator Grace Poe had been considered a frontrunner but looked set for third place. She has conceded defeat, promising to "co-operate with the healing process" after a turbulent campaign.

'Extreme humility'

Mr Aquino is standing down as the constitution limits presidents to one six-year term. As Mr Duterte rose in opinion polls ahead of voting, Mr Aquino had tried to unite other candidates against him, warning his election could mean a return to dictatorship for the Philippines.

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionThis election represented the highest voter turnout in the Philippines, but in one village in Muntinlupa there was a protest rally over a poll dispute

But on Monday, as his lead extended, Mr Duterte told AFP news agency: "It's with humility, extreme humility, that I accept this, the mandate of the people."

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Duterte: From 'Punisher' to president

• Born in 1945 into a political family but with a more modest background than many Philippine politicians.
• Married twice but now single, he says he has several girlfriends.
• A lawyer, he became vice-mayor of Davao in 1986 and mayor in 1988. He has also previously held a seat in congress.
• Built a reputation fighting crime, militancy and corruption. He has promised to continue his tough stance as president, but has offered few specific policies.
• Well known for incendiary comments, such as saying he would kill thousands of criminals without trial.

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Mr Duterte has made many controversial statements during his campaign, saying that he would massacre criminals and drug-users, joking about the rape of an Australian missionary and saying he would dissolve congress if it didn't agree with him.

He has also given forthright opinions on the Philippines' territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, saying he would sail to disputed islands and plant the Philippine flag there.

The Philippines has taken one of its claims to a court of arbitration at the Hague. On Monday, he said he would seek multilateral talks over the issue, to include the US and Japan.

Voting Closes in The Philippines

 

Filipinos have voted to choose thousands of local leaders and national legislators in what was seen as a referendum on the presidency of reformist Benigno Aquino. More than 52 million people were eligible to vote in Monday's elections. Results are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.Police and military were on heightened alert for poll-related violence that has claimed dozens of lives since campaigning began in February. More than 18,000 positions were at stake, ranging from town and city mayors to provincial governors and members of the legislature in an exercise traditionally dominated by political dynasties . Aquino won the presidency by a landslide in 2010 on a promise to crush corruption which he blames for widespread poverty in the nation of 100 million. He consistently scored high popularity ratings for nursing the Philippines back to fiscal health and prosecuting erring officials, including predecessor Gloria Arroyo, now in detention while being tried for alleged massive corruption. Aquino is also close to signing a final peace deal with the main Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), potentially ending a rebellion in the south that has killed more than 150,000 since the 1970s. The aim is to get both houses of parliament - the Senate and the House of Representatives - to pass a law creating a new autonomous region to be governed by the MILF in the south. All the seats in the lower house and half in the Senate are being contested in Monday's elections. Violence  Reports said one army member was killed on Monday and one injured in the island of Negros following an encounter between the military and communist rebels, according to military spokesman Franciso Patrimonio. Two more people were reported dead and seven injured in an ambush in Sulu Province in Southern Philippines, according to a local TV station ABS-CBN. An improvised explosive device was found in the district of Sharif Aguak, in the province of Maguindanao, where a campaign-related massacre took place in 2009 and 34 journalists died. Al Jazeera’s Marga Ortigas, reporting from Manila, said that more than 30 people have been reported killed in the run-up to the elections. “But security forces are pointing out that this is a much smaller number than they have seen in previous elections,” she said. “In fact, the reported incidents of violence in the run-up to these particular elections compared to the previous ones have been a sign, some say, that the reforms Aquino has been instituting during his three years in power are so far working.” In 2009, 58 people, including 32 journalists, were massacred in the country's worst political violence that was blamed on rivalry between two powerful clans in southern Maguindanao province. Voting concerns Sixto Brillantes, head of the Philippines' election agency, reported that at least 200 polling stations reported malfunctioning ballot counting machines. He also said that voting was cancelled in one precinct in the northern Philippine city of Baguio, and one in Compostela Valley in southern Philippines, after election workers failed to deliver the ballots. He said that special voting, at a later date, would only be ordered if "it will adversely affect the final result". An election watchdog also reported power outages in some areas. Other problems, including politicians who jostle for power by bribing, intimidating or launching attacks against opponents, are expected to have marred the vote. Ana Maria Tabunda from the independent pollster Pulse Asia said such dynasties restrict democracy, but added that past surveys by her organisation had shown that most Filipinos were less concerned about the issue than with the benefits and patronage they could receive from particular candidates. Voters often pick candidates with the most familiar surnames instead of those with the best records, she said. "It's name recall, like a brand. They go by that," she said. Vote-buying has also been a problem. The Commission on Elections ordered a ban on bank withdrawals of more than 100,000 pesos ($2,440) and the transportation of more than 500,000 pesos ($12,200) from Wednesday through to Monday to curb vote-buying, but the Supreme Court stopped the move.

Philippine Politics

On May 13, 2013, Filipino voters will troop to the polls to elect their candidate of choice and fill a total of 18,022 government positions. In Philippine politics the upcoming mid-term elections is a democratic process designed to fill soon to be vacated local and national positions including 12 seats in the Philippine Senate and 229 seats in the House of Representatives.

On the provincial level, 80 governors and vice-governors will be elected and with them 766 members of the Provincial Board. A total of 1,634 mayors and vice-mayors are needed by local government units (LGUs) nationwide, and a total of 13,504 councilors. The ARMM requires a governor and a vice-governor and two dozen assemblymen.

Familiar names

It is perhaps not surprising that candidates, especially in the municipality and city levels bear familiar names. Many of the hopefuls are relatives or descendants of known or incumbent politicians. Grace Poe-Llamanzares is an independent candidate running for the Senate. She is the daughter of Fernando Poe, Jr. (better known as FPJ), a revered actor who ran against former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA). There are still claims that FPJ won the election against GMA in 2004 and Grace Poe is counting on fans and supporters of her father for her own bid, no doubt.

The senatorial race is characterized by other familiar names in the political scene of the past two decades, most notable of which are Angara, Aquino, Binay, Cayetano, Cojuangco, Ejercito, Magsaysay, Pimentel, Villar and Enrile. Jack Enrile, the son of current Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is running for the Senate.

They call it clan politics or traditional politics. Some use the term political dynasties. No matter what the preferred terminology is, the fact is that powerful families continue to dominate not just the national political scene but the local scene as well.

A published study in the Philippine Political Science Journal states that the 15th Philippine Congress is 70% dynastic. About 80% of the members of the Congress aged 26-40 come from political families. Similarly, political parties are dominated by political clans with ancestors and a progeny of prominent families dominating the roll call. The same study positively correlates political dynasties in areas with severe poverty and poor development. The study does not claim to be absolutely valid, but the results still reflect the current situation. And there seems to be no respite from clan politics since the newly rich and newly elected are already planting the seeds of their own dynasties.

Those who doubt the validity of the dominance of clan politics should look at the incumbent officials occupying provincial and municipal seats in Ilocos Sur, Pampanga, and Cavite (in Luzon), Cebu and Siquijor (in the Visayas), Zamboanga, and Maguindanao (in Mindanao).

Familiar faces

There were a few surprises when celebrities rumored to launch their political careers did not actually file for candidacy. Some of the best examples are TV show host Vic Sotto, actor-director Cesar Montano and actor-turned 2010 Vice-Presidentialial Candidate Edu Manzano. But there are enough familiar faces running for office that even showbiz talk shows and variety shows have more than the usual tinge of political color since the campaign period started.

Most of the personalities from show business have been in politics for so long that people remember them more for their political activities than the movies or television shows that they used to star in. There’s former President and Philippine cinema legend Joseph Estrada (popularly known as Erap), Laguna Governor “George Estregan, Jr. (award-winning character actor),” Bulacan Vice-Governor Daniel Fernando (former sexy star), incumbent Vice-Mayor of Manila Isko Moreno (dramatic actor), incumbent Mayor of Quezon City Herbert Bautista (comedian), and Paranaque City Councilor Alma Moreno (TV show host and dance diva), and Quezon City Councilor Aiko Melendez (dramatic actress), to name a few. All these familiar faces are running for office this year.

Estrada is bidding for the Mayoralty of Manila against incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim who is in real trouble if Erap’s mass appeal has not waned. Estrada was elected the 13th President of the Republic of the Philippines. He also served as Mayor (City of San Juan), Senator, and Vice-President. He was found guilty of plunder charges and sentenced to reclusion perpetua in 2007. After the former President GMA (who is now under hospital arrest for election sabotage) granted Estrada executive clemency, he ran in the 2010 presidential race and lost. Now, he’s back on center stage, but he chose a smaller arena—the City of Manila (from President to Mayor at that).

Vilma Santos (another Philippine cinema legend and wife of Senator Ralph Recto) is hoping for another majority vote as Batangas Governor, and rumor has it that the opposition backed out of the game. Congressman and world boxing champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is back in the political ring vying for the same post. And his wife, Jinkee is now running as Vice-Governor of Sarangani.

With clan politics dominating the local and national scene and actors and actresses delving deeper and deeper into politics, we can only surmise that this is going to be a colorful, intriguing, and controversial election year.

(Taken from PHILIPPINE DAY NEWS).