Marcos Jr leads way as Philippines opens polls in presidential vote
▶ Son of country’s former leader is expected to take power and succeed Duterte, writes Tommy Hilton
The Philippines is set to elect a new president today. Rodrigo Duterte has been in office since 2016 but is unable to stand for re-election because the country’s rules limit presidents to a single six-year term.
More than 67 million Filipinos are eligible to vote, including about 1.7 million who live overseas, including in the Middle East. Here is all you need to know about the poll:
Q
When does the voting begin?
A
Polling stations will be open today from 6am to 7pm local time. The polls opened for registered overseas voters on April 10.
When will we know the result?
Vote counting begins immediately after polls close. A live, unofficial count could be issued within hours of the last ballots being cast, Reuters reported, and could offer an indication of who has won the country’s presidency.
The election commission aims to announce the complete results by the end of the month. The winner must be sworn in as president within seven weeks of results being announced.
Who is the favourite to become president?
Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who is also known as “Bongbong Marcos”, led the race before voting began.
Polls indicate he is on track to secure an absolute majority with more than half the vote.
He is the son of former president Ferdinand Marcos, who
was in power from 1965 to 1986. Marcos Sr ruled under martial law from 1972 to 1981 and was widely considered to be a dictator.
His son is running on a platform of unity and has promised more jobs and greater security, although rights groups have raised concerns that he could seek to control the country “without constraint”.
He is also allied to Sara Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of the departing president. She is running for vice president in today’s election.
Who are Marcos Jr’s closest rivals?
His closest challenger in the election is Leni Robredo, who has served as vice president since 2016. She defeated Mr Marcos Jr in the vice presidential race that year and has been a fierce critic of both him and Mr Duterte.
Her campaign has promised transparency and economic reforms. It has been characterised by huge rallies hosting supporters dressed in pink,
the chosen colour of her “pink revolution”. Recent polling has suggested she is at least 33 percentage points behind Mr Marcos Jr.
Other notable challengers among the field of 10 candidates include Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso and Filipino senator and former boxing star Manny Pacquiao, but both men trailed Mr Marcos Jr and Ms Robredo in the latest polls.
Who is running for vice president?
The Philippines elects vice presidents separately, with the vote held on the same day. Thousands of other positions, including senators and provincial governors, will
also be decided. Ms DuterteCarpio is the front-runner for the vice presidency. Her main challengers are Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Ms Robredo’s running mate, Francis Pangilinan, a senator.
Are political parties important?
Political parties are generally considered to be less important than personal loyalties when it comes to politics in the Philippines.
Most presidential candidates gain support from their personal appeal rather than from a party base. It is common for politicians to build alliances with whoever is elected president.
Can Filipinos overseas cast ballots and how significant is their vote?
The Philippines has a large diaspora population around the world. There were 2.5 million Filipinos registered as living abroad in 2019, figures compiled by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas show.
These Filipinos are eligible to vote in the election from the countries where they live.
The country with the most registered Filipino voters is the UAE, with 290,182, followed by Saudi Arabia and the US. More Filipino women than men are registered to vote overseas.