Populist mayor Rodrigo Duterte has claimed victory in the Philippine presidential elections, following the withdrawal of his opponents.
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With 10% of the ballot papers still to be counted, Duterte has collared around 40% of the vote against 15% to Roxas, who feels he can not bridge the gap.
Duterte, who has vowed a fierce crackdown on crime and corruption, has made no secret of his involvement in running vigilante death squads as mayor of Davao and waged an incendiary campaign.
On why he should not be compared to Donald Trump: “He is a bigot and I am not”.
When asked how the USA government views Duterte’s controversial promises, including extra-judicial killings to stop crime, Trudeau merely repeated Washington’s willingness to work with the leader Filipinos have elected. In April, video surfaced of Duterte joking about the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary.
“Our people have spoken and their verdict is accepted and respected”, outgoing President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesman, Sonny Coloma, said in a statement. “I will do it (fight drugs), even if they say I am an executioner”, said Duterte. “There’s the hurt. Let’s begin to forget and start healing”.
Crime levels went down during the 22 years he was in charge.
The election commission was not expected to officially proclaim Duterte as the victor of yesterday’s vote for more than a week. Over the years he has cleaned it up and made it one of the safest cities. He is known in the country for building a drug rehabilitation and treatment facility where drug users and dealers who want to change their lives can be admitted. According to ABC News, he said, “There was this Australian lay minister”. What a pity. They raped her, they all lined up.
Duterte was accused of disrespecting women after he distastefully suggested she was attractive and he should have been first in the queue.
Lim: “I think he can instill discipline in people”.
In a rambling speech to announce his presidential run, Duterte lashed out at Pope Francis for causing traffic jams in Manila when he visited the mainly Catholic nation past year.
“We lost five hours going from the hotel to the airport”.
Duterte said publicly the pope was the victim of a “stray bullet” resulting from his gutter language and frustration with government incompetence. “Don’t visit us anymore, ‘” he recalled. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor.
“Help me Mom”, he said in the local Bisaya dialect as he sobbed quietly.
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Mr Elmer G.de Leon, 37, retail manager of MJ’s Provision Mart, said: “He is the only one among all candidates who prioritises criminality, corruption and poverty as problems our country faces”.
