There is NO doubting Rodrigo Duterte is the man most people want to see elected as President, when i arrived in the Philippines Duterte was averaging 21/22% in most Opinion Polls with Grace Poe as the popular choice, except Mindanao where he has always had a substantial lead, as the canvassing has progressed and he has Toured the Philippines his popularity has grown, for instance in Cebu he has good support, and in Palawan especially Puerto Princesa i barely saw a poster other than Duterte, as time went on, his ratings slowly went up to first of all mid 20,s then over the last 3 weeks or so, to a steady 32/33%. This has led to most of the other Candidates realising that Duterte is NOW a major threat to their Presidential aspirations, he is ably supported by a good young Politician in Cayatano who is standing for the Vice Presidency who make no mistake is a pretty inteligent guy, and will be one for the future. This support and rising of Duterte in the Polls has led to much Mud Slinging, and Scaremongering (some may be true, some may not) by Politicians who can see their chances of being elected slipping away, and some would say by sections of the media.
During the time i have been there, i watched and listened with interest peoples views on who they thought should be the next President in Mindanao Duterte,s home Territory, i never heard ONE word said against Duterte, either by Philippinos or the Foreign Immigrants that i met, indeed they all said that they felt Davao was the safest place to live in (maybe not perfect) and indeed it was the only place that i never got ripped off by Taxi Drivers, unlike Cebu and Manila (who the hell wants to live their its like hell on earth).

People should realise there was NO need for Duterte to stand in this election, he didnt have to, and he didnt need to, he could very easily just have carried on being Mayor of Davao until he felt it was time for him to retire, however friends, colleagues and the Filipino people convinced him that he should stand, as the Filipino people needed him, and in the end thats what convinced him most that he should stand. Their is no doubts in my mind that Duterte is taking a very big risk in doing this, he has after all already said he will take on the Drug Lords and Criminal fraternity, not to mention the Corruption (Money Men) that exists in the Philippine Society, created and encouraged by current and past administrations and spread throughout the whole of Society from the very rich down to the poorest of areas (vote buying being just one of them), Duterte is NO fool and realises this may end in a bad way by costing him his life, but he is prepared to take the risk for his people, and for that i admire and respect him, I just hope the Filipino people get what they want and need, and Corrupt practices do not prevent this, there is NO doubting Duterte is the man of the People and if there is any justice he will be the next President..