Anti-crime candidate and mayor of Davao Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte on 10 May 2016 won the presidential election of the Philippines held on 9 May 2016.
With 91.53 percent of votes counted so far, he is set for a landslide victory with 15.36 million votes. He is followed by President Benigno Aquino’s choice Mar Roxas with 9.27 million votes and his closest rival Grace Poe with 8.6 million votes.
In term of percentage Duterte took almost 39 percent of the vote compared to 23 percent of vote for Grace Poe and 22 percent vote for President Benigno Aquino’s choice Mar Roxas.
Grace Poe and other opponents has already conceded the defeat.
About Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte
• He was born in 1945 into a political family with a modest background
• A lawyer by profession he became vice-mayor of Davao in 1986 and mayor in 1988.
• He has also previously held a seat in congress.
• He is also known as “Dirty Harry” and often compared to the US presidential candidate Donald Trump.
• He captured the public imagination after promising to improve security by killing 100000 suspected criminals.
• As the mayor of Davao he gained popularity across the archipelago, where crime rates dropped drastically under his leadership.
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• The election results show that a major portion of the public are choosing strong leaders over democratic ideals
• Duterte’s election could threaten growth and investment in the Philippine after six years of economic expansion and political stability. The reason being he has admitted knowing little about economic policy.
• In the past six years under the incumbent President Benigno Aquino, the Philippines shed its label as the “sick man” of Asia and growth increased to an annual average of 6.3 percent over the past five years.
• But the Filipinos are demanding change as they claim that growth has not trickled down to the poor.
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