Duterte victory a result of 'protest vote' –political analyst

Frustration over the Aquino administration and its shortcomings has led to the landslide victory of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the presidential race, a political analyst said Tuesday.

In a phone interview, University of Santo Tomas (UST) political science professor Edmund Tayao said disappointment with the government caused voters to gravitate toward an “outsider” like Duterte, who promised radical methods in solving the country's pressing problems such as criminality and illegal drugs.

"It was clear that people wanted a president who's not from the opposition or administration," Tayao said. "Duterte emphasized the change people wanted to happen."

Tayao said the choice of Duterte shows that Filipino voters are open to unorthodox means of putting reforms in place after methods tried by past administrations failed to work.

"The public really wanted to make sure change does happen, that's why they went for Duterte," he said.

However, Tayao said despite Duterte's popularity, he was not able to help the candidacy of his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

He said even before the election season started in October last year with the filing of certificates of candidacy, Cayetano was already languishing in voter preference surveys even if he was among the senators at the forefront of the Senate investigation against Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“The investigation on Binay caused his survey ratings to drop. But interestingly, the numbers of Cayetano and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV did not go up. The probe made an impact on Binay's popularity but it did not benefit them,” he said.

Asked on possible reasons why Cayetano's survey ratings did not shoot up like Duterte's did, Tayao said: “It could be that he lacks charisma, or the approach he employed [in pursuing his advocacies] may not necessarily be agreeable." —KBK, GMA News