The Philippines 2016 election is under way, and anyone who wants to follow live results from both the presidential and senate races will have plenty of options.
Voters take to the polls on Monday to elect a new slate of senators and a new president after Benigno Aquino III reached his term limit.
Those who follow live results of the 2016 Philippines presidential election will see if the controversial Rodrigo Duterte can hold the lead he has taken in recent weeks. The controversial Davao City mayor, who has been criticized for his strict crackdowns on crime and connection to extra-judicial hit squads that had drawn attention of human rights watchdogs, surged ahead of Senator Grace Poe in the last month and took a clear lead into the final week.
A BusinessWorld – Social Weather Stations (SWS) Pre-Election Survey released last week showed that Duterte had the support of 33 percent of the 4,500 voters surveyed. Poe came in second with 22 percent while Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II came in third with 20 percent. Vice President Jejomar Binay followed with 13 percent while Miriam Defensor-Santiago was fifth with 2 percent.
That lead was roughly the same as a Pulse Asia poll released in late April (via the Wall Street Journal ) showing Duterte with a 12-point lead over Poe at the time, 35 percent to 23 percent.
Duterte caused plenty of controversy as he rose in the polls, promising to dissolve Congress if his power is put in check. He also described the Philippines presidential election as a choice between democracy and dictatorship.
Duterte has admitted a connection to the death squads that human rights groups say killed 1,424 people between 1998 and 2015, a tally that ABC reported included 132 children. These so-called hit squads faced almost no prosecution, and Duterte said criminals will be “legitimate target of assassination” while he’s in power.
VIDEO: Philippines mayor’s threat to criminals https://t.co/UKT00K7vGr
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 7, 2016
His iron-fisted leadership has earned plenty of enemies, including Clarita Alia who said four of her sons were killed by death squads in Davao City.
“He is a demon. He’s so unfair, and he has no morals,” she told the ABC , noting that her youngest son, Bobby, was just 14 when he was stabbed to death.
Alia claimed that even wayward children had been a target.
“The policeman belongs to the mayor who a long time ago warned children who loiter on the street to go away from Davao because they have no place here. They will all be killed,” she said.
“Of course [Duterte gave his approval], the hitmen were all paid. For example, to kill solvent users it cost 5,000 pesos. A thief 5,000 pesos. Or those who committed murder or drug pusher, 10,000 pesos.”
What’s the mood in the Philippines in the run up to the elections? https://t.co/irRVW1zLaC #Eleksyon2016 pic.twitter.com/Pz5LVJNcHL
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 8, 2016
As the BBC noted, there is much at stake in the Philippines presidential election. Outgoing president Benigno Aquino III has led the nation to economic prosperity, quadrupling foreign direct investment and driving down the budget deficit. He has also increased spending on infrastructure and schools, and in doing so improved the nation’s middle class.
But he was limited in his term, the report noted.
“The problem is that President Aquino started with the Philippines far behind its neighbors, and the changes he has brought are incremental, rather than revolutionary,” the report noted. “Had the constitution allowed it, he might have been able to turn his modest successes into a story alluring enough to win another term of office.”
Those who want to follow live results of the Philippines 2016 election can click here for up-to-date vote totals for the presidential and senate races from Rappler .
[Photo by John Moore/Getty Images]
