'The best last option': Toronto's Filipinos bracing for 'Filipino Trump' presidency
Approximately 34,000 Filipino Torontonians were eligible to vote in the country’s elections
He's being called the Donald Trump of the Philippines and in Toronto, thousands of Filipinos are watching and waiting to see if Rodrigo Duterte will become president in what is perhaps one of that country's most divisive elections in recent history.
Early Tuesday, Duterte was considered the Philippines' president-elect. Final results are still being counted, but the second-place candidate, former interior secretary Mar Roxas, has conceded defeat.
Approximately 34,000 Filipino Torontonians registered to vote in the country's elections, observers say. And now they're wondering what Duterte, who had emerged as the front-runner and an anti-establishment flashpoint in the election, will do if he assumes the top job.
"He just says what's in his mind, he doesn't bother [about] what people would say. He's just straightforward," Toronto-resident Jacqui Valera told CBC News. "He's a man of action, as they say."
- Rodrigo Duterte, the Filipino Donald Trump, favoured to win presidential race
- Firebrand mayor Rodrigo Duterte set to clinch Philippines presidency
About three quarters of a million Filipinos live in Canada, approximately 200,000 in the Greater Toronto Area. It's the third-largest diaspora of Filipinos in the world and their opinions on the would-be president are as divided as ever.
As the mayor of the southern city of Davao, Duterte has caused a fire-storm of controversy in the Philippines. He's talked openly about his Viagra-fueled sexual affairs, and has joked he should have been the first to have sexually assaulted an Australian missionary who was gang-raped and killed by inmates in 1989.
He's also bragged about his ruthless crackdown on crime — even vowing to kill up to five criminals a week, according to local media.
'What Filipino people are really craving'
"Drugs is his number one [priority] and corruption," Canadian citizen Connie Rodriguez said. "He said, 'Just give me three months and I'll do it.' That's what Filipino people are really craving for."
And that strongman approach is gaining favour — not only among a majority of Filipinos back at home where the country's southern region has been facing an increase in militant activity, but also among Filipino-Canadians in the Toronto area.
"What's encourag[ing] with would-be president Duterte is he has promised to sit down with these groups," said Jesson Reyes, the regional coordinator of a Filipino migrant advocacy group in the GTA.
"For us as overseas Filipino workers, we want peace and development in our country. The [current] government with Noy Noy Aquino and his liberal party has not done anything to provide peace and initiate any conversation as far as the peace process is concerned," Reyes said.
Benigno "Noy Noy" Aquino III is the son of Corazon Aquino, who is revered as the country's first-ever elected president and also its first female leader.
"I guess they're all tired of all the same politics, promises... I think Duterte is the best, last option," Toronto-resident Frederico Riez said.
Tony San Juan is a political commentator with Pinoy Radio, an online station that broadcasts from Los Angeles and Toronto. A dual citizen, he voted in the election and said there are enough Filipinos living abroad to make a difference in the result.
Attracting 'the masses'
"If these 1.1 million voters will try to exercise their right to vote, it could be a swing vote," San Juan said.
But while the so-called Filipino Trump is causing some trepidation, many are taking support for the candidate in stride.
"He's a lawyer and he knows that what he's saying, he can't do. It's just braggadocio to attract the attention of the masses," Canadian citizen Bob Rosales said.
"I have some concerns but I'm sure that some elements in the Philippines — the church, people with sanity will equalize him once he's elected."