Aquino Poised For Victory in Philippine Elections
Presidential Candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino Leads Election Results
May 13, 2010 - With 90 percent of the vote in, Philippine Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is posed for victory in the race for the country's president. Tens of millions of Filipinos went to the polls this week amidst election-day violence that claimed at least 10 lives, and computer glitches which caused long delays.
Outgoing President Gloria Arroyo made preparations Thursday for a hand over to her likely successor, Aquino, the son of Philippine democracy icon Corazon Aquino, surpassing his nearest challenger former president Joseph Estrada by a large margin.
Long queues formed outside many polling stations as Filipinos waited to vote in the country's first automated elections, and the confusion prompted election commission Comelec to extend voting by an hour. Problems were also reported with some voter lists. Turnout was 75 percent among about 50 million voters registered to elect politicians for posts from the presidency to municipal councils, the poll body said.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 34 incidents of violence were recorded nationwide: six shootings, five encounters with partisan armed groups or communist rebels, one robbery, one ballot snatching, three cases of intimidation of voters, three mauling and two improvised explosive device explosions.