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1 1 (April 12, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/govcdxp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: , . : riE -S-' $. h ,i , Philippines 2016 Presidential Election April 12, 2016 The 2016 presidential election in the Philippines, set for May 9, will determine a successor to Benigno Aquino III. Aquino, who is limited by the Philippine Constitution to one six-year term, will step down in June. He has received relatively strong approval ratings (around 50%) in recent national surveys, reflecting popular support for his efforts to promote economic growth and combat corruption, although persistent poverty and corruption remain public concerns. The election may have implications for U.S. interests in the Philippines and in the region, including the strengthening of bilateral security relations through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), Manila's handling of maritime territorial disputes with China, and the threat of Islamist extremism on the southern major island of Mindanao. By some measures, the Philippines is a vibrant, if still developing, democracy, particularly its civil liberties, civil society, and electoral processes. Nevertheless, corruption and abuses of power, often perpetrated by politicians, powerful political families, and local clans, as well as weak judicial institutions and what some analysts refer to as a culture of impunity, continue to affect Philippine politics. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked the Philippines 54th out of 167 countries in terms of the level of democracy in 2015 (up from 75th in 2012), placing it in the flawed democracy category. The Philippines has an estimated 55 million registered voters, and had a voter turnout of 75% in the 2010 presidential election. Presidential politics in the Philippines largely are based upon personalities rather than ideology or party platforms. Name recognition, character, and approachability are especially important to Filipino voters. Political parties and groupings tend to be tenuous and shifting. Members of Congress sometimes switch party affiliations, and each of the leading candidates for the 2016 presidential election has had close political ties to one or more opponents. They have not articulated deep policy differences. The candidates mostly support recent moves to strengthen the U.S.- Philippines security alliance as well as the assertion of Philippine territorial claims in the South China Sea (which the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea). Jejomar Binay is the Vice-President of the Philippines. He was mayor of Makati, the financial center of Metro Manila, for 21 years. Although he serves as Vice-President, he is not politically allied with President Aquino. In the Philippines, the candidates for president and vice-president run in separate elections and the winners may represent different political parties. Rodrigo Duterte is mayor of Davao City. Duterte has a reputation for being tough on crime, and some critics fear what they perceive as his authoritarian tendencies. Senator Grace Poe is the daughter of the late Fernando Poe, Jr., an actor who lost to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 presidential election, which was tainted by allegations of fraud. Manuel Mar Roxas II, grandson of former President Manuel Roxas (the first president of the independent Philippine Republic), has served in the Senate and in the cabinets of three administrations. Aquino and Roxas are members of the Liberal Party, the largest political party in the Philippines. Although Poe has led the race in some recent surveys, each of the top three contenders has taken the lead at some point in the past few months. A presidential candidate needs only a plurality of votes to win, raising the possibility of a victory that is not decisive. VOTER REFERENCES FOP RREStUEN T PHL FPLtNES. SEP 2OIS IC APR 2016 ........ ... ' r X; A t ' ' , N a io al.,%s . ... .. .. In 2013, the Philippines filed for arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), asserting that aspects of China's maritime claims and actions in the South China Sea violate UNCLOS. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to make rulings on the case in spring or summer of 2016. Some analysts believe that if the tribunal rules partly or entirely in the Philippines' favor, China may ignore the ruling and/or take further assertive actions. The main contenders for president support international legal action against China; however, territorial disputes reportedly are not a top issue among many Filipino voters, and some candidates also have proposed rebuilding cooperative relations with Beijing, with which the Philippines has significant economic ties. Binay has expressed support for resuming diplomatic talks with China and expanding economic relations, including possible joint oil exploration in disputed sea areas. Duterte has proposed gognpo goo g , q 'S a X 11LULANJILiN,

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