Quezon City – By next week, the Philippines will have a new president that will hopefully address the endemic problems the country has been dealing for a long period of time that includes poverty, crime, corruption and unemployment.
People are hoping that their next president will be able to rally and unite the fragmented Filipinos into one nation so that it can move on and progress economically like its neighboring Asian countries.
Most often than not the country for so many years has been unable to attain economic progress due to partisan politics and pervasive corruption in all corridors of the government. Ever since the downfall of the Marcos regime, the country has not so far attained the economic growth every president after Marcos has envisioned in order for the government to at least improve the lives of millions of destitute Filipinos, particularly those living in far-flung provinces.
By Monday, May 9, on election day here in the Philippines, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte appears to be the top choice of most Filipinos to be their next president. Most people that I have talked with, from taxi drivers, restaurant workers, sales workers as well as jeepney and tricycle drivers and young college students, are all rooting for a Duterte presidency.
They all have the same answer when asked why Duterte. They want radical change. They said they are tired of all the empty promises of traditional politicians who do nothing to improve the lives of the “common tao.”
The frustrations, disappointments and anger of the people have catapulted Mayor Duterte as the top choice of Filipinos to be their next president. Latest Pulse Asia survey showed that Duterte is still ahead over his rivals in the presidential derby with a 33 per cent voter preference.
The poll survey, commissioned by television network ABS-CBN and conducted from April 26 to April 29, showed that Duterte is still maintaining his 58 per cent preference rating among voters in Mindanao. Out of nowhere, former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, LP presidential bet and the anointed candidate of President Noynoy is now in third place based on the same Pulse Asia Survey conducted last week. Based on the same survey, Roxas is now statistically tied with Senator Grace Poe Llamanzares. Vice President Jojo Binay has slid down to fourth place. Despite that, however, Binay remains upbeat on his chances of being elected as the next president.
In a news conference held in Isabela, Binay said he is no longer paying attention to surveys. He said he will just wait for the outcome of the election on May 9.
In the vice presidential race, Senator Bongbong Marcos is still on top based on the same survey. In second is Congresswoman Leni Robredo. Senator Francis “Chiz”Escudero is now in third place.
In Manila, some people are saying that the tight race between Erap Estrada and former city mayor Alfredo Lim might enable Congressman Amado Bagatsing to pull a surprise to win the mayoralty contest. Estrada is heavily depending that the thickly populated Tondo district will help him win his second term as mayor in Manila.
Meanwhile, people all over the country remain uneasy with the election only a few days away as of this writing. The voting public are hoping that the election will be peaceful and orderly, although they expressed reservation regarding the assurances made by the Commission on Election (Comelec) that there is no way that the PCOS machines can be manipulated to favor certain candidates.
Shirley Buenorostro, a Grade 10 public school teacher at the San Francisco high school in Quezon City said she will ensure that voters will be able to cast their votes in favor of their preferred candidates. “I hope that I may be able to preserve the sanctity of every ballot to be cast in my precinct to ensure a fair, clean and honest election that every voters desires,” she said.
Jane Pamintuan, a house helper in Antipolo city is a Duterte volunteer worker, In her spare time after her work, she and her fellow volunteer friends conduct house-to-house campaign to ensure a Duterte victory in the May 9 election. Pamintuan, a mother of three kids, age from 10, 8 and 4, is happy doing volunteer work with her friends without expecting any renumeration from the Duterte camp.
Hopefully, Pamintuan said, a Duterte presidency will be able to address the common problems the people are facing in their daily struggle to survive. She remains hopeful that Duterte will be able to solve the surging crime incidence and drug problems in the country. Pamintuan’s husband, Carlos, is a tricycle driver. He has been robbed of his earnings twice by holdup artists in Antipolo city while plying his routes from early morning up to late in the evening. The couple hopes that with a Duterte as chief executive, there will be less crime in the city as well as in the whole nation.