After more than three months of campaign that saw dirty words and tactics being flung freely on social media, Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte emerged as winner by landslide in the May 9 presidential elections.But Duterte, 71, offered his hand for healing and peace even before the balloting was over. He asked opponents to “forget about the travails” of the elections and help him “begin the healing now.”
This, despite his campaign that featured rash talking, including a rape joke, and use of bullying by his trolls on social media—behaviors that he himself tried to curb by calling on his supporters to stop.
After casting his vote at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School in Matina district, Davao City, Duterte said the “virulent” campaign season should not stop him and his political rivals from mending fences and helping one another in nation building.
When the vote count indicated Duterte was way ahead, candidate Grace Poe conceded. Mar Roxas followed the next day.
The election was as much a victory for the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which reported a voter turnout of 81 percent of the country’s 54.3 million registered voters. The poll body had expected a 75 percent turnout.
In comparison, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said, the 2010 presidential elections had a voter turnout of 74.8 percent while the 2013 local elections, had 77 percent.
The speed of transmission of election results was also the fastest of the three polls in which vote counting machines were used, with 60 percent sent in by 9:30 p.m. on May 9 from more than 92,509 precincts across the country.
Bautista attributed this to the preparation that included lessons from experiences in the 2010 and 2013 elections and pinpointing where and what equipment to deploy to guarantee transmission.
He said they also met with telecom companies to guarantee privacy, priority and security of data. He added that the manual upload of data from SD cards also helped.
Among the country’s 19 regions, the National Capital Region (Metro Manila), Region 3 (Central Luzon) and Region 4-A (Calabarzon) had transmitted more than 70 percent of the votes to the Comelec by 9:30 p.m.
The first to accept the trends these these reports had indicated was Senator Poe.
In a press conference at midnight, Poe said she recognized the wide lead that Duterte enjoyed and assured him of her cooperation for the good of the country.
At past noon the next day, Roxas gathered his staff at the campaign headquarters and wished Duterte success.
The emotional but calm Roxas said: “Digong, I wish you success. Ang inyong tagumpay ay tagumpay ng ating sambayanan at ng ating bansa.”
The former Interior secretary thanked his supporters and called for reconciliation after a bitter quest for the highest post in government.
But Roxas said the fight remains for his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, for the vice presidency.
“Sa ngayon, hindi pa tapos ang laban ni Leni. Angat siya, lumalaban siya. Patuloy tayong magbantay, manalig at sumuporta. Siguraduhin natin na mabibilang nang tama ang kanyang boto,” he said.
Comelec’s Bautista said the gesture of some candidates to acknowledge the victory of their opponents was a good way to ease political tension. “I hope this will become a tradition that will be practiced in the future elections,” he said.
