Rodrigo Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of Davao City, was headed for victory in the Philippine presidential election with an almost unassailable lead over his main rivals after a record number of voters cast their ballots.
With 75 percent of polling stations reporting, Duterte had 12.6 million votes, or 38.7 percent, outperforming final pre-election opinion poll surveys which estimated his support at 33 percent.
Mar Roxas, the candidate backed by outgoing President Benigno Aquino, overtook Senator Grace Poe to move into second place with 7.3 million votes, or 22.4 percent, according to results collated from the Commission on Elections and published by its civil society partner. Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son of the former dictator, was leading a tight race for vice president.
Eager to break the establishment mold exemplified by outgoing President Benigno Aquino, the son of former president Corazon Aquino, voters embraced Duterte’s tough-guy approach to reduce traffic jams on Manila’s congested roads and curb rising crime rates.
Political Uncertainty
Duterte, 71, maintained strong support through a campaign that saw him make light of a notorious rape incident, deny accusations of undeclared wealth, repeatedly back the extra-judicial killing of criminals, and admit to being involved in shootouts that left at least three suspected kidnappers dead.
His lack of clarity on economic policy and rising political uncertainty over threats by Duterte to abolish Congress if it stood in his way, sent 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.
In a report on Monday, S&P Global Ratings said the risk of political uncertainty would be somewhat higher in a Duterte presidency. His hands-on approach to governing Davao City could encounter resistance, and if that style leads to serious political battles “it could damage one of the Aquino administration’s key achievements--a sustained period of political stability,” S&P said.
Election Violence
After a heated election campaign, Duterte on Monday called for a truce with his rivals.
“Past days have been virulent, I’d like to reach my hand to my opponents,” Duterte said in a briefing in Davao City after voting. “Let’s begin healing now.”
At least 10 people were killed in poll-related violence on Monday, according to the military, while dozens of malfunctioning machines delayed voting. The Commission on Elections extended voting by an hour in areas that experienced delays.
Born in Southern Leyte province in central Philippines, Duterte, whose lawyer-father was governor of the old Davao province, worked as a prosecutor in Davao for nine years before becoming vice-mayor in 1986. Two years later he took over as mayor, a post he has since held seven times. Once notorious as the nation’s murder capital, Davao is now one of the country’s safest and more prosperous cities.
Possible Cabinet
Yet to claim victory, Duterte has started talking openly about possible cabinet appointees with reporters. He said his childhood friend Carlos Dominguez, who worked as agriculture secretary for the late President Corazon Aquino, may be tapped to head the finance or transportation departments. Another friend, classmate Jesus Dureza, who was press secretary of former President Gloria Arroyo may lead a peace panel, Duterte said. The job of foreign minister may be given to his running mate Alan Cayetano, after the expiry of a one-year ban on preventing election candidates being appointed to cabinet.
Edmund Tayao, a political science professor at University of Santo Tomas in Manila, said the winner will need to work towards unity.
“As to what to expect from mayor Duterte, most expect him to be really a reformist president,” he said. “Many hope though that the means employed by a Duterte administration will not be that radical so as to avoid a divisive result.”
--With assistance from Clarissa Batino and Ditas Lopez To contact the reporters on this story: Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net, Norman P. Aquino in Manila at naquino1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Davis at abdavis@bloomberg.net, Jason Koutsoukis, Nasreen Seria
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