Rodrigo Duterte declares victory in Philippines election, vows to rewrite constitution // 'Duterte Harry': the would-be president accused of using vigilante squads
Philippine mayor
Rodrigo Duterte, who has an unbeatable lead in unofficial tallies in the
country’s presidential race, will push to rewrite the constitution and change
to a parliamentary system of government, his spokesman has said.
Speaking to reporters
on Tuesday morning a few hours after Duterte claimed victory, Peter Lavina said
the plan “will require a wide national consensus beginning with asking congress
to call for a constitutional convention.” He added: “There will
be major rewriting of our constitution.” Duterte, 71, had promised during
his campaign to change from a centralised system to a federal parliamentary
form of government, a policy that has been popular in provinces far from the
capital. As mayor for two decades in the southern city of Davao, Duterte has complained that “Manila gets
everything so regions are forced to beg”.
Lavina said policies
Duterte imposed in Davao could be implemented nationwide, including a late
night drinking ban and a curfew for unescorted minors after 10pm. “This liquor
ban is because we have to work the next day,” he said. “Nothing to do with
denying us of our freedoms.” “Incidentally,
we have a ban on loud karaoke [in Davao] because everyone has to go to bed,” he
said. Lavina added that
although Duterte could use an executive order it is best done through a
consultative “democratic process of legislating these measures.”
A preliminary ballot
count by the accredited election commission showed Duterte has close to 39% of
counted votes. The unofficial results suggest the tough-talking mayor, who has
pledged to kill criminals en masse during his six-year term, will win when the
official tally is announced.
One of the other four
candidates, Senator Grace Poe, conceded on Monday night on the same the day of
polls that will also elect a vice president and more than 18,000 local and
national representatives in the archipelago nation of more than 7,000 islands. The vice presidential
race has been much tighter, with lawyer and social activist Leni Robredo just
0.4 points ahead of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son of the late dictator who was
widely expected to win.
The official election
commission could take days to announce the final results. The general election
in south-east Asia’s oldest democracy saw a record engagement with an estimated
80% turnout of the 54 million registered voters. Key issues have been
the economy, crime and corruption. Duterte was perceived to be the
anti-establishment candidate in a country frustrated with the slow pace of
change and a small clique from the political elite in power for years.
Alcohol was banned for
two days during the voting period. Just hours before polls opened on Monday,
seven people were shot dead when a convoy of vehicles was ambushed in Rosario,
just south of Manila.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/10/rodrigo-duterte-declares-victory-in-philippines-election-vows-to-rewrite-constitution
“Duterte Harry” has drawn scorn from rights groups who accuse him of allowing vigilantes to kill hundreds of suspected criminals.
