Marcos family eye return to power as polls close

Voting has closed within the Philippines after thousands and thousands queued across the islands to pick their next president.

The man tipped to win the presidency is Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, the son of the nation's former dictator.

Opinion polls have suggested he may additionally see a landslide victory, that means the Marcos clan ousted with the aid of a humans's rebel 36 years ago should reclaim power.

His important rival is Leni Robredo, a liberal who narrowly beat Mr Marcos in the 2016 vice-presidential race.

But pollsters this campaign have constantly shown the Marcos inheritor in advance with a commanding 30-percentage-factor lead.

Polls closed at 19:00 nearby time (11:00 GMT), and counting become due to start straight away - even though balloting can be prolonged in a few locations to account for Covid regulations and if citizens are nonetheless ready in line.

A high turnout changed into anticipated of the country's eligible 67.5 million voters - with many lining up pre-dawn on Monday to cast their votes at polling booths at schools and network centres.

Filipinos are not simplest balloting on the president but additionally the vice-president, senators, lower residence legislators and heaps of decrease-rating officials across the whole archipelago's 7,600 islands.

It might also start to end up clear in a few hours which candidates are pulling in advance. However, the procedure could also take days earlier than a winner is announced, as became the case in 2016.

There had been reports of poll troubles, with some citizens at a college in Manila telling the BBC they have been having trouble feeding their papers into the counting machines. Others mentioned that they had been advised to depart their votes with booth officials.

Comelec Commissioner George Garcia had earlier instructed the BBC "there will continually be allegations of irregularities" however there have been no extensive breaches so far.

He additionally said reports of violence were "minimum" and that "the police are in complete manage of the state of affairs".

Whoever wins Monday's presidential race will take over from Rodrigo Duterte, a hardliner who is come to the give up of his six year term in office.

Mr Duterte's authorities has been condemned for its brutality in cracking down on capsules and crime, though the administration has usually rejected allegations of wrongdoing.

Critics additionally say democratic institutions have come beneath attack in his presidency, pointing to the shutdown of Philippines' broadcaster ABS-CBN, a channel which - like some other independent media outlets - has angered Mr Duterte in the past.

A long line of exasperated voters watched us as we walked into the polling station in Makati in Metro Manila.

"Are you media?" asked one onlooker. "It's true that you're right here."

The polling station, that is expected to handle greater than 25,000 citizens these days, has skilled three malfunctioning vote counting machines.

Across the united states, 1,867 machines have malfunctioned, in line with the Philippine elections commissioner George Garcia, however he said the issues were resolved.

But one of the machines at our polling station was nonetheless malfunctioning. A heated argument had broken out. An aged woman said to us she had been expecting greater than 4 hours to feed her poll paper and obtain an reputable receipt.

Election officials were urging her to depart the paper and they might feed it while the device began working, however she remonstrated, saying she desired to witness her vote being counted.

Elsewhere the elections have been strolling easily, but there are reviews of some violent clashes and claims of vote buying. The applicable authorities say they're investigating the allegations.

Who are the candidates?

Bongbong Marcos, sixty four, is the son of the past due dictator Ferdinand Marcos whose regime lasted 21 years.

On Monday, he and his family - along with his mom Imelda - solid their votes at a college polling sales space in Batac inside the us of a's north, his family's heartland.

Ferdinand Marcos' rule noticed him plunge the u . S . Into martial law and take manipulate of the us of a's courts, agencies and media. The army and police arrested and tortured hundreds of dissidents and political combatants were murdered.

Marcos, his spouse Imelda - infamous for her lavish dressmaker cloth cabinet - and their cronies plundered an expected $10bn (£eight.1bn) from public budget. Public anger over his regime noticed him pressured out inside the People's Power Revolution of 1986 and he died soon afterwards.

Upon his circle of relatives's return from exile in the Nineteen Nineties, Mr Marcos used his circle of relatives's wealth and connections to renew political targets, becoming a province governor, congressman and senator.

When he misplaced the 2016 vice-presidential race to Ms Robredo, he contested the result - and has vowed that he might not be "cheated" this time around.

His strolling mate is Sara Duterte, daughter of the incumbent president. The pair have promised to "unify" the kingdom but they hardly ever discussed any guidelines throughout their election rallies.

Leni Robredo is a former human rights legal professional who has constantly led campaigns towards Duterte's pills violence and gender inequality.

She has vowed to address corruption, along with her marketing campaign slogan being: "Honest authorities, a better lifestyles for all".

Her rallies have drawn sizeable turnouts these days - in particular among engaged, normally young "Pink Shirt" supporters who launched door-knocking campaigns to win her votes.

The different candidates have trailed Marcos and Robredo in polls. They consist of boxing champion and countrywide hero Manny Pacquiao who has promised to address corruption and poverty, and Manila's city mayor Isko Moreno who has promised greater infrastructure spending and a harsher line on China.

Are there any electoral issues?

Critics say the election has been plagued through rampant incorrect information on social media.

"I even have described it as a cesspool of disinformation and it just receives worse each election cycle," Richard Heydarian, a politics professor at Polytechnic University of the Philippines instructed the BBC.

Mr Marcos has denied accusations that he is released online operations to whitewash his family's history. However, his marketing campaign continuously paints his father's dictatorship as a fake "golden period" for the us of a - in spite of enormous poverty and an economic system heavily indebted to overseas banks.

He has also steered clear of debates or boards where he would possibly must face impartial wondering.

For Ms Robredo, tracker corporations have suggested an escalation in on line campaigns harassing and vilifying her with misogynistic messages.

The Asian Network for Free Elections - a screen - has observed beyond Philippines votes to be usually free and truthful.