Rodrigo Duterte, long time mayor of Davao has finally seen victory during the latest presidential elections (if one is to cite the tentative results from the COMELEC transparency servers). His service for 22 years as Mayor of Davao city, one of the largest cities in terms of population and land area in the country has been renowned for turning the once murder capital of the Philippines into one of the top 10 safest cities in the world, at least according to some surveys, numerous ordinances such as those anti discrimination city ordinances (preventing discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, so on and so forth), the best social and emergency services in the country (including free city healthcare) and also making the city as one of the few places in rebel infested Mindanao were the rebels refuse to attack due to his refusal to treat them as enemies. However, much of this did not come without a price, as the mayor and president elect is criticized for turning the city into a police state, running anti crime vigilante squads (criticized by CHR for being extra judicial in nature) and finally, the ultimate source of international criticism being his foul politically incorrect language. Despite these imperfections, the Filipino people embrace him as the ultimate source for radical change in the nation with growth of wealth concentrated only on the few families, rampant corruption, crime, security and others through his platform of state industrialization, suppression of crime and corruption within 3-6 months, a warmer relationship with China and finally his promises for a federal parliamentary form of government which is designed to eliminate politics of personality and the political injustice of the "Imperial Manila" phenomenon.
However, the race for the VP is another story with Leni and Marcos having almost the same number of votes and separated only by a narrow margin of a few thousands. With vote canvassing incomplete, the conclusion of this political transition is still uncertain.
