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Who Won The 2016 Philippines Election? Rodrigo Duterte Holds Huge Lead In Presidential Race, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Winning Vice President Race

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 07:09 PST, May 9, 2016

Who won the 2016 Philippines elections?

As Monday turned into Tuesday, voting totals were still being finalized, but the race for president appears all but over as Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte holds a lead of more than five million votes over the next closest rival.

In totals from just after midnight on Tuesday, Duterte had a total of 14 million votes, while former interior secretary Mar Roxas trailed with 8.4 million. Senator Grace Poe, who was once neck-and-neck with Duterte in polls in the weeks leading up to the election, was third with 7.9 million votes.

William Yu, the director of the quick count center in Manila, noted that the race was already a “foregone conclusion” given Duterte’s insurmountable lead, ABC News reported.

Poe had already conceded defeat.

“I respect the result of our elections,” Poe told reporters in Manila (via ABC News).

While Rodrigo Duterte is likely to be declared the winner of the 2016 Philippines presidential race, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led a still tighter race for vice president. In results just after midnight on Tuesday, he had 11.1 million votes to 10.4 million for Rep. Leni Robredo.

The likely new president of the Philippines is a controversial one. Rodrigo Duterte earned a reputation as an iron-fisted mayor in his crime-plagued city, cracking down on criminals in a harsh approach that critics say included the use of so-called hit squads conducting extra-judicial killings of criminals.

Duterte did not shy away from these allegations and, in fact, has vowed to execute 100,000 criminals and dump their bodies in Manila Bay if he is elected. In rallies leading up to Monday’s vote, he repeated his harsh rhetoric against criminals.

“Forget the laws of human rights,” he said (via CNN). “If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because as the mayor, I’d kill you.”

Duterte also threatened to shut down Congress if it were to press him over his allegedly concealing money in secret bank accounts. Even outgoing president Benigno Aquino III called on voters to reject Duterte, saying he would raise the “specter of dictatorship” if he won.

But Duterte struck a more friendly tone after surging out to a large lead in the 2016 Philippines presidential race.

“I would like to reach, extend my hands to my opponents and… let us be friends,” Duterte said in a news conference. “Let us begin the process of healing.”

Supporters noted that Duterte’s approach had worked, turning Davao City from one of the nation’s most dangerous to one prospering economically with now very low crime rates.

When the results of the 2016 Philippines election are made official, Duterte will have overcome long odds to lead the nation. He was seen as a long shot when he announced his candidacy in November, just five months after the advocacy group Human Rights Watch had connected him to vigilante killings in Davao City. No president had ever been elected from the southern Philippine island of Mindanao or one who had never held a national office.

The official announcement of who won the 2016 Philippines presidential elections is still hours away. Officials said the presumptive winner will not be officially known until at least 24 hours after the polls close. More information on updated vote totals can be found here.

[Photo by KJ Rosale/Associated Press]

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