What happens on election day?

[ASEAN NOW News]

Some 67.5 million Filipinos aged eighteen and over are eligible to cast their vote, along with about 1.7 million from the vast Filipino diaspora who have registered overseas.

 

file photo

 

Polling stations will open at 6am (22:00 GMT) and close at 7pm (11:00 GMT) on Monday May 9th, 2022.

These actual hours have been extended because of the coronavirus pandemic and the need to avoid queues and crowds.

 

Once the polls close, counting gets under way immediately, and the candidate with the most votes wins.

There is no second round so the name of the new president could be known within a few hours.

 

The inauguration takes place in June.

 

Every Six Years

 

The presidential and vice-presidential elections are held every six years.

 

Election Days in which the president and vice president and barangay officials are not elected are called "midterm elections"; Election Days in which the president and vice president are elected are called "presidential elections".

 

Election and Campaign Periods

 

Unless otherwise fixed in exceptional cases by the Commission on Elections, the election period for regular and special elections shall commence ninety (90) days before the day of the election and shall end thirty (30) days thereafter.

 

The Philippines goes to the polls on May 9th to choose a new president, in what analysts say will be the most significant election in the Southeast Asian nation’s recent history.

 

Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte leaves office with a reputation for brutality – his signature “drug war” has left thousands dead and is being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) – economic incompetence, and cracking down on the media and his critics.

 

Duterte has also been criticised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed at least 60,439 people in the archipelago.

 

There are ten candidates battling to replace him, but only two stand a realistic chance of winning.

 

The first is frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr, popularly known as “Bongbong” and the namesake of his father, who ruled the Philippines as a dictator until he was forced from office and into exile in a popular uprising in 1986.

 

The second is Leni Robredo, the current vice president, and head of the opposition, who has promised more accountable and transparent government and to reinvigorate the country’s democracy.

 

“This election is really a good versus evil campaign,” University of the Philippines Diliman political scientist Aries Arugay explained.

 

 “It’s quite clear. Duterte represents dynasty, autocracy, and impunity. Robredo stands for the opposite of that: integrity, accountability and democracy.”

 

Soon everyone will know who will replace Duterte as the next president of the Philippines.

 

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