Duterte’s favorite for Philippines president
Print Edition
FIREBRAND city mayor Rodrigo Duterte looked virtually certain to become the Philippines’ next president as election results poured in yesterday, confirmation that the political outsider’s pledges to crush crime and corruption had resonated with voters.
Five hours after polling stations had closed, a rolling ballot count by an election commission-accredited watchdog showed that Duterte had about 39 percent of the votes cast. An exit poll of a small number of voters showed a similar lead.
Asked by a television interviewer what he thought about his apparent victory, Duterte gave a puzzling answer.
“Sometimes I’m victorious and the winner, sometimes there’s always losing and being sad, sometimes being sick and healthy,” he told CNN Philippines, slouched in a chair and dressed casually in a checked, short-sleeve shirt.
“That is how the universe is being played every day.”
The 71-year-old’s truculent defiance of political tradition has drawn comparisons with US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as have his references to his libido.
Popular disgust
His man-of-the-people demeanour tapped into popular disgust with the political establishment over its failure to tackle poverty and inequality despite several uninterrupted years of robust economic growth.
The election numbers reported by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting had, by 1420 GMT, accounted for about 70 percent of the 54 million registered Filipino voters.
Duterte had 12.1 million votes, with Senator Grace Poe and the government’s candidate, Manuel Roxas, far behind with about 6.8 million each.
Duterte talked of making peace with his rivals after a “virulent” campaign.
“Let us be friends,” Duterte said in a news conference after voting in southern Davao city. “Let us begin the process of healing.”
Duterte has peppered his campaign speeches with boasts about his Viagra-fueled sexual prowess and jokes about rape. But he also successfully tapped into the discontent, and many voters overlooked his unashamedly crude language.
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