Filipinos began voting in a hotly contested presidential election that’s seen Rodrigo Duterte, the controversial mayor of Davao City, propelled to the front of the pack with his tough talk to combat crime and deal with traffic-clogged roads in Philippines.
Holding an 11-point lead over his closest rivals in the last of the pre-election opinion polls, Duterte has maintained support even after making light of a rape incident, being accused of having undeclared wealth that he denies, backing extra-judicial executions of criminals, and admitting to being involved in shootouts that left at least three suspected kidnappers dead. His fellow contenders are Mar Roxas, a former government minister endorsed by outgoing President Benigno Aquino, and Senator Grace Poe.
At stake is an economy that the World Bank describes as Asia’s rising tiger, fueled by a young and growing population, and that the government forecasts will expand more than 6 percent this year. Duterte, 71, has managed to tap the dissatisfaction of millions of Filipinos who feel they haven’t benefited from those gains.
Roxas and Poe “underestimated the level of discontent,” said Dindo Manhit, managing director of Stratbase, a consultancy group in Manila. “Duterte was able to build a campaign narrative from a very local issue like crime and drugs into a symbol of government failure.”
Final Rallies
Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. local time and are due to close at 5 p.m. Andres Bautista, chairman of the Commission on Elections, told GMA News it will extend hours in some areas where delays were reported for various reasons, including malfunctioning voting machines.
The commission expects turnout this year to exceed the 75 percent recorded in 2010. There are 54.4 million registered voters, with 45 percent of those in the 18 to 34 age bracket.
Hailing from the strife-torn Mindanao region in the south, home to eight of the 10 poorest Philippine provinces, Duterte has won fans across the nation, including in vote-rich Manila, where he held his final rally on Saturday to a crowd of about 400,000.
Weaker Currency
Voters in Davao City, many of them wearing red shirts in the color of Duterte’s campaign, lined up in slow-moving queues. Outside the polling area, sample ballots with Duterte’s name as presidential pick were being distributed by his supporters.
“We are wearing red as a sign of solidarity,” said Buddy Gonzales, a 50-year-old businessman who was with his family of four all clad in red outside a polling station. “I’ve seen what Duterte has done for Davao and we’re happy about it. We would like to see it duplicated throughout the Philippines.”
While Duterte has won fans with his tough talk on fighting crime, the lack of certainty about his economic policy is pushing investors to the sidelines. The peso has weakened 1.9 percent against the dollar in the past month, while the Philippine Stock Exchange Index dropped for a third consecutive week by 2.3 percent. Financial markets in Philippines were closed on Monday.
“Most investors are playing it safe,” Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Holdings Inc., said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We’ll definitely lobby that the new administration will be more friendly to not only business, but to the economy.”
The Philippines may be a victim of its own economic success. Faster growth and rising employment during Aquino’s six-year term have led to record car sales, clogging up Manila’s already gridlocked roads. Infrastructure spending hasn’t kept pace with growth and public transport backlogs have gotten worse.
Duterte had 33 percent support in the final polls of Pulse Asia Research Inc. and Social Weather Stations, trailed by Roxas and Poe with 20 percent to 22 percent. Vice President Jejomar Binay, who declared his candidacy the earliest and at one time was the front-runner, had fallen to fourth place, followed by three-time presidential aspirant Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Gloria Bautista, a 67-year-old Catholic church worker, said she had seen a marked improvement in the economy when she returned to the country in 2013 after spending 13 years in the U.S.
Vice President
“We see people with jobs, money to spend, corruption trimmed to a lesser degree and a Philippines that’s internationally recognized for its achievements,” she said in an interview outside a polling station in Quezon City in the capital. “We’re alarmed with the emergence of Duterte. He’s not a good man, and we don’t know what his plans are for the country.”
A last-ditch attempt by Aquino last week to get Roxas and Poe to agree on a united front to thwart Duterte at the polls wasn’t successful. While Poe said she was open to talks, she declined to withdraw her candidacy.
“I like Poe because she is very motherly and I believe she will look out for the welfare of everyone,” Tess Corpuz, a 48-year-old mother of seven who works as a cleaner, said in an interview. Under Aquino’s rule, “I didn’t feel any change,” she said.
Filipinos will also elect a vice president under a split-voting system, seats in the legislature and pick their candidates for mayor and local councilors. Leading the race for the vice president post is the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who goes by the nickname Bongbong, and Roxas’s running mate, Leni Robredo.
(Updates with comments from voters starting in ninth paragraph.)
--With assistance from Norman P. Aquino Karl Lester M. Yap Ditas Lopez Cecilia Yap and Siegfrid Alegado To contact the reporters on this story: Clarissa Batino in Manila at cbatino@bloomberg.net, Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Davis at abdavis@bloomberg.net, Nasreen Seria, Karl Lester M. Yap
©2016 Bloomberg L.P.
