Barrantes,HannahR.

Fistofiron
AnewstrongmanpresidentmaypreventthePhilippines
frombecominganeconomicstar
May14th2016
|
MANILA

IN A vain effort to quell the revolution that created the first, brief Philippine republic in 1899theSpanisharmy
executed Jose Rizal, a nationalist author, in a park that now bears his name. Almost 90 years later
demonstrators, fed up with the murderous kleptocracy of President Ferdinand Marcos, massed in the same
park in a display of people power that eventually pushed him into exile.OnMay7th, twodaysbeforeFilipinos
went to the polls to choose a new leader, 250,000 people thronged Rizal Park for a rally forRodrigodigong
Duterte(picturedabove),whopromisesanotherpoliticalupheaval.
Mr Duterte, the toughtalking mayor of Davao,triumphedonMay9th: withmorethan95%ofthevotecounted,
he holds a 15point lead. The two runnersup have conceded defeat. His rivals were well beaten. Miriam
Defensor Santiago, who has served in all three branches of government, took just 3.4% of the vote. Grace
Poe, a telegenic senator with little political experience, threw in the towel on election night. Mar Roxas, a
cabinet minister, finished well adrift, despite an endorsement by the outgoing president, Benigno Aquino.
Jejomar Binay, Mr Aquinos vicepresident, who has faced a steady stream of corruption allegations, finished
evenfurtherbehind.
The country of 100m people that Mr Duterte inherits has one of the fastestgrowing economies in Asia. But
poverty stubbornly persists. Voters are also fed up with crumbling infrastructure, productivitysappinggridlock,
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persistent corruption and ineffective government. And discontent simmers at the countrys narrow, feudal
politics,dominatedfordecadesbyahandfulofwealthylandowningfamilies.
Mr Duterte ran as an action man and outsider, ready to tackle the nations problems just as one might wring
the neck of a foul snake. He has given few details.Ina long,meanderingspeech,lacedwithbadlanguage,at
the rally in the park he promised only to fight crime and corruption.Thecrowdcheeredashe pledgedtosend
the army and police tokillcriminals.Similarthreatsmadeonthecampaigntrailthrilledmanymorepeoplethan
they horrified. Ordinary Filipinos are sick of the robbers they meet in the streetas well as those they put up
withinhighoffice.

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PresidentsofthePhilippinessinceyear2010

PresidentsofthePhilippinessinceyear2010
1. BenignoAquinoIII

20102016

2.RodrigoRoaDuterte

2016present

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TableofContents

AnewstrongmanpresidentmaypreventthePhilippinesfrombecominganeconomicstar
May14th2016|MANILA
PresidentsofthePhilippinessinceyear2010
TableofContents

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