MANILA , Philippines (Reuters) — Filipinos woke up to the news on Tuesday (May 10) that firebrand mayor Rodrigo Duterte was set to become the country’s next president .
Early on Tuesday morning, a rolling ballot count by an election commission-accredited watchdog showed Duterte had almost 39 percent of votes cast. He was more than 5 million votes ahead of his nearest rival with 90 percent of votes counted.
Grace Poe, a popular senator, won more than a fifth of the votes counted but conceded defeat to Duterte and said his lead reflected the will of the people.
Duterte’s apparent victory dominated newspaper headlines while residents on the streets of Manila reacted warily, saying they hoped he would hold true to his promises of improving the lives of the people.
“Let’s see because we still don’t know if Digong (Rodrigo Duterte) can handle it well and he says a lot of things about improving the Philippines. He says that he has a lot of programmes that he will do in our country. Let’s just wait and see if he can deliver,” said Arnel Cuartero, a village leader who said he voted for Grace Poe.
“I’m already old, I’m in my sixties. I hope that for the next generations, he will be able to fix the Philippines. Of course at our age, I hope that the the promises President Duterte said will come true,” said pedicab driver Arturo Boado.
Duterte’s incendiary rhetoric and advocacy of extrajudicial killings to stamp out crime and drugs have alarmed many who hear echoes of the Southeast Asian country’s authoritarian past.
The 71-year-old’s truculent defiance of political tradition has drawn comparisons with U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as have his references to his libido.
Duterte made a succession of winding, bellicose and at times comical remarks on television as the votes were being counted, venting over corruption and bad governance and telling anecdotes from his 22 years as mayor of Davao city.
He said corrupt officials should “retire, or die” and reiterated his support for police to use of deadly force against criminals.
The election numbers reported by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) had, by 5:30 am (2130 GMT Monday), accounted for about 90 percent of the 54 million registered Filipino voters.
Duterte had 14.9 million votes, with the government’s candidate Manuel Roxas second with 8.9 million, followed by Poe with 8.3 million votes.
The PPCRV count is not official but Poe’s decision to concede defeat added weight to his presumed victory.
At least 11 people were killed in violence before voting started, but otherwise the election was mostly smooth. Voters also cast ballots for the vice president, 300 lawmakers and about 18,000 local government officials
