Posted on 05/09/2022 1:18:36 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The son and namesake of ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos took a commanding lead in an unofficial vote count in Monday's presidential election in the deeply divided Asian democracy.
With more than 77 percent of the votes tabulated, Marcos Jr. had 25 million, far ahead of his closest challenger, current Vice President Leni Robredo, a champion of human rights, who had 11.9 million.
The election winner will take office on June 30 for a single, six-year term as leader of a Southeast Asian nation hit hard by two years of COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns.
Still more challenging problems include deeper poverty and unemployment and decades-long Muslim and communist insurgencies. The next president is also likely to hear demands to prosecute outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte for thousands of killings during his anti-drug crackdown — deaths already under investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Duterte's daughter, southern Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte, is Marcos Jr.'s vice presidential running mate in an alliance of the scions of two authoritarian leaders who concern human rights groups. The tie-up has combined the voting power of their separate northern and southern political strongholds, boosting their chances but compounding worries of human rights activists.
Sara Duterte also had a formidable lead with 24.9 million votes for vice president in the unofficial count from the Commission on Elections server. The president and vice president are elected separately in the Philippines.
"History may repeat itself if they win," said Myles Sanchez, a 42-year-old human rights worker. "There may be a repeat of martial law and the drug killings that happened under their parents."
In a late-night video statement, Marcos Jr. did not claim victory but thanked his supporters for accompanying him on "this sometimes very difficult journey" and urged them to keep up their guard
(Excerpt) Read more at pbs.org ...
Thanks, now I have to read about expected false positive rate in antigen test vs. RT-PCR. I’m assuming the PCR test would be done with the proper number of cycles.
Incidence of false positives seems to be much higher with the rapid antigen tests than a properly done PCR. Since any positive means NO GO I guess she will have to pay the extra money for the RT-PCR.
Thanks for the help!
RE: Then there was Cardinal (Jaime) Sin
Yes, he was quite a character too. He would jokingly welcome visitors to his parsonage with: “Welcome to the House of Sin!” 😆😅
as for the thousands killed in Duterte’s “drug wars”: well, we can now walk the streets safely. And some of those killed were paid murders by families who could not get justice through the court system that is slow and vulnerable to bribes and witnesses vulnerable to threats.
And of course, the libs making that claim didn't notice when druggies killed in home invasion robberies, or when druggies high on meth got angry and threatened or killed their loved ones...not to mention the homes wrecked and those who died of overdoses or strokes from taking shabu (the most popular drug here is shabu, aka meth).
As for me, I wish great progress for the people of that fine ally. I have had solid friends of fifty years from that brother nation and found that when I spent 9 years in Phoenix, AZ two of the the first buddies my wife and I both made were of that heritage.
did you ever find out what was wrong with the covid test, and why they think it was “no good”? I have a sister who works in HK and might as well fly to RP to see the in-laws.
“did you ever find out what was wrong with the covid test, and why they think it was “no good”? I have a sister who works in HK and might as well fly to RP to see the in-laws.”
Nothing wrong with the test as demonstrated by no issues on arrival in Manila. I think the antigen test was recently added to approved methods for PI and suspect the airline employee was used to only seeing PCR test results. Either that or they did not understand the antigen test conditions, e.g., must be within 24 hours start of travel EXCLUDING LAYOVERS.
I got my PI covid test requirement info from PI Airlines, PI Immigration website and US Embassy Manila website. If my wife hadn’t had a hard copy of the requirement with her i don’t think she would have got on the plane for the 13-1/2 hr. flight to Korea.
Is there anything to like about the Philippines other than the friendly people of course? It’s politics, economy and quality of life seems in the crapper (I’ve never been).
RE: It’s politics, economy and quality of life seems in the crapper
* Beautiful Country with some of the world’s best sceneries and beaches
* Hospitable people ( but you knew that )
* Responsible workers who ironically thrive everywhere in the world except at home ( go to Dubai or other Middle Eastern countries, it’s the Filipinos who helped build these countries and maintain their infrastructure).
* Economy and Quality of life is slowly improving, more so in the past 6 years than before.
* A religious people still with traditional values ( divorce, abortion and same sex marriage are not legal ).
* Relatively well educated people who speak English quite well and view America favorably.
Other than that, yes, corruption is rampant at all levels of government and law enforcement 😔😒
24 hours before the flight? That’s really cutting it close. Whenever I fly to Asia, I always get the early morning / first flight out of N America so it should fit within 24 hours. Normal 12 hour flight. The layovers will be tricky, that’s why I prefer only 1 quick layover and just sleep on the plane.
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