Manila, May 9, (dpa/GNA) - Filipinos turned out on Monday to elect a successor to President Rodrigo Duterte, with the son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos leading the race 36 years after his father was ousted.
Long lines of voters were seen outside precincts, which opened at 6 am (2200 GMT) nationwide. A high voter turnout was expected despite delays in some polling centres due to malfunctioning vote-counting machines, missing names on voter lists and other glitches.
“So overwhelmed by the number of people flocking the polling areas,” said George Garcia from the Commission on Elections. “This despite the pandemic threat. Democracy is alive in our country!”
Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr topped pre-election polls, with current Vice President Leni Robredo a distant second.
Political analyst Julio Teehankee said that while Marcos Jr has a huge lead, there is a “groundswell of support” for Robredo and “people are saying that there could be an upset, a come-from-behind [win].”
Marcos Jr voted early in his hometown of Batac City in Ilocos Norte province, 386 kilometres north of Manila.
He then went to a Catholic church to meet his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, notorious for having a lavish lifestyle and amassing more than 3,000 pairs of shoes during her husband’s rule.
His vice presidential running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio – daughter of outgoing president Duterte – voted separately in the southern city of Davao. She wrote, “love the Philippines” on the armchair she used and signed her name and the date.
The president and vice president are elected separately.
More than 67 million Filipinos, including 1.8 million based overseas, are registered to vote for a president, vice president, half of the 24-member Senate, more than 250 congressional representatives and thousands of local officials.
The family of front runner Marcos Jr was chased out of the country in a “people power” revolt in 1986 and was accused of widespread corruption.
They were allowed to return to the Philippines in 1992, three years after Marcos Jr’s father died in Hawaii.
Members of the family have since been elected to various government positions, and a presidential win for Marcos Jr would complete the Marcos family’s return to power in the Philippines.
Victims of human rights abuses under Ferdinand Marcos’s rule have vowed to continue the fight.
“It’s really unthinkable that Marcos Jr could become the Philippines’ 17th president,” said Bonifacio Ilagan, 71, a student leader who was tortured after being arrested in 1974 while the country was under martial law. “But if this is the reality, this is going to be another phase in our struggle.”
Marcos Jr has never acknowledged the abuses that took place while his father was in power. Ilagan believes he is likely to take steps to “erase the memory of those who have fallen during the fight against the dictatorship” in a “full-scale revision of history.”
Voting precincts are open until 7 pm (1100 GMT), but the Commission on Elections may extend voting hours if people are still waiting. The voting hours were longer by two hours this year to allow for health protocols amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Police officers and soldiers have been placed on high alert for the elections, which are traditionally marred by violence and allegations of fraud.
Robredo, 57, who cast her vote after waiting in line for almost two hours, said the reports of irregularities from all over the country were “disturbing” and urged authorities to address the issues.
“We do not want the integrity and cleanliness of this election to be trampled on because that is where the trouble will start,” she said.
Robredo said her campaign has set up a hotline for reports of irregular incidents.
“Hopefully we can get through this day with no more untoward incidents, but our only advice is: ‘Don’t be afraid. We will work together a lot. We just need to document everything,” she added.
GNA