Filipinos vote to elect Duterte's successor Monday
Filipinos vote to elect the successor to President Rodrigo Duterte as the country's polls open at 6 am until 7pm on Monday's national and local elections.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) forecasts a high turnout from 65.7 million registered voters despite the threat of COVID-19.
"This will be a historic and very memorable elections. In a pandemic situation, we are electing a new president," said Comelec Commissioner George Garcia.
"We are actually expecting a high voter turnout on Election Day," added Garcia.
Pre-election surveys have placed former Senator Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr way ahead of Vice President Leni Robredo for president.
Political scientists say a survey is a snapshot of the situation and that Monday's elections will determine if Marcos' strategy to center his campaigns on social media will succeed.
Both sides managed to assemble big crowds as they finished their campaign Saturday at the NCR. Robredo was at historic Ayala Avenue, the scene of Corazon Aquino's rallies vs Ferdinand Marcos Sr in the 1985 snap elections while ''Bongbong'' was near Solaire in Paranaque.
Comelec said the May polls will be transparent and accurate.
"We will protect the sanctity of the vote by all means and (under) whatever circumstances. We are going to pursue this to the end," said Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan.
A total of 18,100 seats are up for grabs in the May 9 national and local polls, led by 1 president, 1 vice president, 12 senators, and 63 party-list representatives.
Also to be contested are 253 members of the House of Representatives, 81 governors, 81 vice governors, 782 provincial board members, 1,634 mayors, 1,634 vice mayors, and 13,558 councilors.
On the other hand, there are 46,193 candidates and 177 party-list organizations (with 929 nominees) running in the elections, including 10 for president, 9 for vice president, and 64 for senators.
Locally, there are 690 candidates for congressman, 259 for governor, 219 for vice governor, 1,891 for provincial board members, 4,316 for mayor, 3,824 for vice mayor, and 34,911 for councilors.
The National Capital Region has a total of 7,322,361 registered voters.
Considered as 10 vote-rich provinces are Cebu (3,288,778), Cavite (2,302,353), Pangasinan (2,096,936), Laguna (2,045,687), Bulacan (2,007,523), Negros Occidental (1,946,639), Batangas (1,819,071), Iloilo (1,628,752), Rizal (1,601,962), and Pampanga (1,580,473).
At the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Forum Tent in Pasay City, the Comelec en Banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), is set to convene Monday.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting will start releasing partial and unofficial tallies from the vote counting machines after the polls close at 7 pm.
Earlier, Garcia said they expect winning senators and party-list organizations will be proclaimed by May 16.
Canvassing of votes for president and vice president by Congress will begin May 23. DMS
