5 Things About the Philippine Election

Filipinos go to the polls today to elect a president, replacing the term-limited Benigno Aquino III. Here are five things to know about the election in the Philippines.

#1: How the Election Works

More than 18,000 local and national posts—everything from senator to town mayors—are up for grabs. In the Philippines, presidents get a single six-year term. There is only one voting round: in a close-fought race like the current one featuring several strong candidates, the winner might secure just 30% of the vote or less. There are more than 54 million registered voters, 80% of whom are expected to take part. It usually takes several weeks for the Philippine Congress to confirm the result, but the winner should be known within a few days—unless the margin of victory is small. In that situation, a protracted battle could ensue as presidential candidates launch legal cases and challenge local vote counts.

#2: Colorful Characters

Many candidates probably wouldn’t pass the bar for electoral suitability in other less forgiving democracies. In the Philippines, local warlords, convicted felons and celebrities have a strong track record of winning elections. In midterm 2013 polls, 17 winners were convicted criminals and 256 were facing corruption charges, according to the Philippines’ corruption court. It is a similar story this time. Joseph Estrada, a former president and movie star who was ousted, jailed for corruption and barred from ever holding public office again, is running for re-election as mayor of Manila. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, another ex-president, has been under hospital arrest for several years facing corruption charges, which she denies; she is seeking re-election to Congress. And Imelda Marcos, wife of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos who went into exile in 1986 after allegedly stealing $10 billion from the national treasury, is fighting for re-election to Congress at the age of 87.

#3: Violence

Philippine elections are often marred by violence. Gun ownership is widespread and rivalry between local political clans is often intense. In 2010, the police said 155 people died as a result of election-related violence, including 22 assassinated candidates. This year, things have been more calm. Over the weekend, police said they counted 15 election-related killings, including the shooting of a mayoral candidate Saturday in the southern town of Lantapan. On Monday, seven people were killed in a shootout in Rosario, a town near Manila which police had earlier classified as an area of concern due to a bitter rivalry between political families. Police say they have deployed 120,000 officers armed with assault rifles to guard polling stations. A similar number of army troops are also on standby. Things might be a lot less calm after the election, however, with front runner Rodrigo Duterte promising a “bloody war” on criminals that he says could leave 50,000 people dead.

#4: Logistical Nightmares

Running an election on an archipelago made up of more than 7,000 islands is an extreme challenge and preparations have been difficult. The Commission on Elections, the government agency responsible for running the polls, has had a torrid time. It disqualified Senator Grace Poe, a leading presidential candidate, last year, only for the Supreme Court to reject its decision. In March, the commission warned that there would be chaos unless the election was postponed by at least a month to give it more time to prepare more than 90,000 automatic voting machines nationwide. The appeal fell on deaf ears, leaving the commission scrambling to get things organized. The commission insists that the automatic voting machines will deliver a result that people can trust, but already some overseas Filipinos—who were able to vote in advance—have complained that the machines didn’t accurately record their ballots.

#5: Cheating

Outgoing President Benigno Aquino III won by a landslide in 2010, but elections are usually much closer and are accompanied by allegations of cheating. Election Commissioner Luie Guia said over the weekend that “vote buying is everywhere” and that candidates were trying everything they could to solicit votes—offering money but also freebies such as groceries and toiletries. Reports of a possible power outage Monday in areas of the main island of Luzon also raised eyebrows, and many recalled unproven allegations that mass power cuts on election day in 1992 enabled manipulation. This year, as is traditional, many of the leading candidates have accused each other of attempting to cheat the system. Richard Gordon, a former senator who is running for the Senate again, said that he was aware of high-level attempts to distort the results. “This is a sham democracy,” he said.