MANILA, May 10 (UPI) — Rodrigo Duterte, a politician who boasted he once authorized death squads to kill 1,700 people as mayor, won the presidential election in the Philippines on Tuesday after his opponents withdrew.
Duterte’s main rival conceded defeat after polls showed Duterte gained a large lead in early exit polls on Monday. Although the official result has not been declared, Duterte said he accepted his post with “extreme humility” — crediting his victory to his tough stance against crime.
Philippines election officials said there was record turnout with more than 81 percent of the country’s 54 million registered voters casting ballots. About 18,000 local official positions also were up for grabs. Presidents in the Philippines are elected to six-year terms.
A poll monitor said that with about 90 percent of presidential ballots counted, Duterte was leading with about 14.8 million votes, while Duterte’s closest rival, former interior minister Mar Roxas, had 8.6 million votes.
Throughout his campaign, Duterte has stirred controversy by making incendiary statements. In late April, he said he would pardon himself for murder.
“I will issue 1,000 pardons a day,” Duterte said. “Pardon given to Rodrigo Duterte for the crime of multiple murder, signed Rodrigo Duterte.”
Duterte, 71, who served as the mayor of Davao City, ran on an anti-crime platform that appeals to the country’s upper and middle classes who fear rising criminality. He said he would establish a ruthless administration that would eradicate crime syndicates in the first six months of his tenure. During his 22 years as mayor of Davao, Duterte said he ran vigilante death squads in which some 1,700 people were killed.
He warned that as president he would authorize security agencies to kill hundreds of criminals, adding that he would pardon himself and his executioners after.
Duterte also recently made a much-condemned comment about the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary.
“I saw her face and I thought, ‘Son of a [expletive]. What a pity … they raped her, they all lined up.’ I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first,” Duterte said. “This one, she is so beautiful, she looks like an actress … They did it ahead of me, kill them all.”
