Tens of millions vote, Bongbong poised to win

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. seems poised to be the subsequent president of the Philippines as tens of millions started voting on Monday, below the watchful eyes of hundreds of safety forces after violence claimed 4 lives over the weekend. 

In keeping with one of many newest opinion polls, the 64-year-old namesake son of a deposed dictator, will win greater than half the votes to turn into the primary presidential candidate to safe an absolute majority in many years.

The survey, launched final Monday, confirmed that he polled at 56% — means forward of his important rival incumbent Vice-President Leni Robredo who was at a distant 23%.

Popularly often called Bongbong, Marcos Jr. is the son of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who dominated the nation with an iron fist for twenty years till he was overthrown in 1986 following mass protests. In the course of the marketing campaign, Marcos has tried to recast his father’s legacy as corresponding to former U.S. president John F. Kennedy’s household in its glamor.

Robredo, a 57-year-old lawyer and economist, will want a low turnout or a late surge of help to attain an upset. 

Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, 77, is constitutionally barred from in search of a second time period. He has not endorsed any candidate, however his daughter Sara is Bongbong Marcos’ operating mate.

Filippinos may even elect a vice-president, senators, decrease home legislators and provincial in addition to native officers in polls which are estimated to draw about 65.7 million registered voters within the nation and 1.69 million others abroad, native media stated, citing figures by the Fee on Elections. 

Over 50% of voters are between the ages of 18 and 41, which suggests they don’t have any reminiscence of the brutal rule of Marcos Sr. as a result of they had been both not born or too younger to grasp the mass incarcerations, torture and different abuses of that period. 

After six years of Duterte’s hardline rule, throughout which the nation witnessed a brutal anti-drug struggle, there are widespread fears {that a} landslide win for the youthful Marcos could herald a return to authoritarian rule. Each Bongbong and Sara Duterte have stated they’re greatest certified to “unify” the nation. 

Elections within the Philippines are ceaselessly marred by violence. On Saturday, 4 folks had been killed in a shootout between candidates for mayoral elections within the northern Ilocos Sur province. Three safety guards had been additionally killed in Buluan municipality on restive Mindanao island within the southern Philippines on Monday when gunmen opened fireplace at a polling station, in line with AFP information company.

In all, there have been 16 election-related violent incidents throughout this marketing campaign, lower than in 2016 and 2019. Greater than 60,000 safety personnel have been deployed to guard polling stations and election staff.