Challenges await the new President of the Philippines

(Baonghean) - As expected,Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte - dubbed the "Donald Trump of the Philippines" - has won the country's presidential election.

Mr. Rodrigo Duterte declared victory in the Philippine election with nearly 39% of the vote (Source: AFP)

With an overwhelming number of votes, Mr. Duterte declared victory with more than 14.8 million votes from voters, equivalent to 38.65% of the total 90% of valid votes counted. Despite winning an impressive number of votes, according to analysts, the road ahead for the new Philippine President will be full of challenges.

Rodrigo Duterte has always been the most mentioned name in the presidential election in the Philippines. Before the election took place, domestic and foreign newspapers had commented that he would be the leading candidate in the race for the presidency of the Southeast Asian country.

Running for the Philippine presidency as mayor of Davao City on Mindanao Island, he has “scored points” with voters and public opinion in the Philippines with an impressive campaign focusing on economic reform, infrastructure improvement and handling of territorial disputes with China in the East Sea.

In addition, he also made strong commitments on fighting corruption and crime in his election platform, such as ending crime nationwide within 6 months, even threatening to "use tanks" if the National Assembly opposed his decision.

Such strong statements have partly won him the hearts of Philippine voters, especially those who are dissatisfied with the deterioration of public order, crime, and rampant drugs.

Not only that, he is also considered quite clever and experienced in politics when he made a campaign commitment to only serve the people and not serve privileged groups.

In the context of the Philippines facing many pressing issues such as crime, drugs, and disputes in the East Sea, it can be said that Mr. Rodrigo Duterte's election commitments have met the wishes of the majority of the people.

It should be noted that the Presidential election in the Philippines has a notable point: the people's decision is mainly based on their feelings towards each candidate, not on the party's policies that the candidate participates in. Therefore, it can be affirmed that Mr. Duterte's personal commitments have convinced the Filipino voters and received the support of the majority of voters.

However, the contents of the presidential election platform that are strongly supported by the people, according to analysts, will also be challenges in the near future for Mr. Duterte.

First of all, we must mention the achievements under the current President Bengino Aquino - who is praised for helping the Philippines escape the stereotype of being considered a "weak country in Asia", and is even considered one of the few economic "bright spots" in the region.

Therefore, overcoming such a “highlight” is certainly not an easy task. How to maintain the fastest economic growth in ASEAN at more than 6% - the Philippines' best in the past 4 decades will be a difficult goal to overcome.

People line up to vote in the suburbs of Manila (Source: AFP)

Besides, another issue that is also considered a "burden" for the next Government is the inequality and the fact that the lives of the poor have not improved, as currently in the Philippines, the proportion of people living in poverty is relatively large, at about 25%.

Along with domestic issues, how President Benigno Aquino's successor will handle the relationship between the Philippines and China and the United States, especially in the East Sea issue, is also a big challenge. In the context of China's actions to expand its influence and unilaterally impose unreasonable claims in the East Sea, the Philippines is one of the most affected countries... And how this problem will be solved by the new Philippine President is an issue that is being closely watched by public opinion not only in the Philippines but also in the region.

During the election campaign, Mr. Duterte did not clearly express his views on China and the disputes in the East Sea, causing public opinion to wonder how the new leader of the country will handle the situation when the Philippines still needs China in economic and investment issues.

Although there will be many difficulties awaiting Mr. Duterte in his new position as President of the Philippines, analysts believe that as a person with 22 years of experience as a mayor, who has brought about dramatic changes in the economy, politics and security of a large region in the Philippines, and has a very high political determination, Mr. Duterte will have reasonable calculations to solve the challenges in the next term.

Thanh Hien