Duterte wins Philippine presidential election: preliminary results

Davao city mayor Rodrigo Duterte has won the 2016 Philippine presidential election, according to an unofficial and partial tally of votes cast as of 2:00 a.m. Tuesday. Based on 87 percent of valid ballots, Duterte pocketed 14,499,396 votes, followed by Manuel Roxas at 8,680,203 votes, the statistics from partial and unofficial Comelec Transparency server showed. Even if the rest of the uncounted valid votes all went to Roxas, he would not be able to turn the tide. "Duterte's victory excites me and inspires optimism because he is a strong-willed leader with outstanding track record as moyor of Davao city," said Wilson Lee Flores, a columnist and analyst in political science. Flores emphasized that Duterte is the first Filipino president-elect from economically-neglected, resource-rich and rebel-infested Mindanao region of southern Philippines. "He can help the region more," he said. He added that he also expects Duterte to address the now bad peace and order situation, the huge rich-poor gap, and the rural development and infrastructure needs of the country. Grace Poe, ranking the third in vote counting, had already conceded to Duterte earlier in a press conference in Quezon city, Manila. Five candidates contested in the election for the presidency to succeed Benigno Aquino III, whose six-year term ends on June 30. Duterte has been leading most of the opinion polls since April. Some 33 percent of the voters said they would vote for Duterte in the final pre-election survey conducted by Social Weather Station. The country's renowned polling body carried out the survey from May 1 to 3 through face-to-face interviews with 4,500 validated voters nationwide with a sampling error margin of 1 point. The 71-year-old mayor is known to have made Davao one of the safest cities in the Philippines through tough regulations and iron-fist approach in crime fighting. During the presidential campaign period, he vowed to wipe out corruption, drugs and criminality in three to six months if he wins the election. His aggressive behavior and offensive language won him a lot of supporters, but aroused concerns and controversy as well. Candidate Grace Poe held a press conference in Quezon city, Manila at around 00:05 a.m. Tuesday, conceding to Duterte. Expressed her gratitude to her supporters, Poe said that she and her team had never lost faith. The female candidate said she had tried her best during the campaign period. Poe also said she would serve as senator for three more years, fighting for rule of law and democracy as she always did. Some 55 million Filipinos were registered to vote and the voter turnout reached a record high of 81.62 percent, according to the Commission of Elections. The candidate who gets the most votes wins the election.