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When I made my assumptions last October, that Benigno (Noynoy) Aquino III might be poised to become the 15th president of the Philippines, nobody expected that the results would come in so clearly and undisputed.

Usually laughed-off Aquino as a ‘mental’ or bespectacled pseudo-intellectual, who only came to political power due to his name, proved his critics wrong by winning yesterdays elections for President of the Philippines by a wide margin.

What happened on election day, how did those numbers add up and above all, what can this beautiful yet starved country expect in the coming months ahead?

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Election Day on 10th of May

According to The Inquirer, one of the leading english-speaking newspapers in the country, the current 2010 elections were some of the most peaceful the country has seen, despite some 18 people who were shot dead and 8 bomb explosions going off across the country in election-related violence on election day. All in all, over the last 200 days of the campaign, there were ‘only’ 82 incidents with 68 casualties, compared to 232 or 310 casualties in 2004 or 2007 respectively.

Funnily, they forgot to count the victims of the Ampatuan massacre in Mindanao, where on 23rd November 2009 a staggering 57 people were killed at once in campaign-related violence by an aggressive clan.

Filipinos are a hot-blooded mix of Malay, Spanish and Mexican decent. Can you now imagine why even Lonely Planet is warning to discuss politics in the country? Just joking,

Anyway, back to topic: Noynoy Aquino, who came in very late in the preparations for a presidential run, only after the death of his mother – the revered Corazon Aquino – late last year, didn’t have everything going for him right from the start. He was up to potential candidates like Manny Villar, a proclaimed self-made business man with deep, if not limitless pockets of cash and prominent Catholic Church Champs like Eddie ‘Bro’ Villanueva.

Another prominent figure was Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada, an actor and former president of the country and convicted criminal. Initially coined a Philippine Ronald Reagan, due to his acting similarities, he used the presidential office already once to plunder the governmental coffins for his own good. Still – his famous name and a certain hard-headedness kept his popularity high – despite his obvious shortcomings.

If you see the actual results, Erap really pulled of a coup by coming in a strong second!

This year’s election was extremely important for the Filipino soul, voter turnout was estimated an incredible high 75-80%; a number, western countries can only dream of.

The electronic voting system via voting machines, which was introduced first time in this election, seemed to has worked surprisingly well. Computers were used to count ballots for the first time year; thus transforming the usually manual, week-long and cumbersome tallying procedure into a quick and smooth ride.

Did they see it coming?

Over the last couple of weeks it mainly looked like there was a close head-2-head battle between Noynoy and Manny Villar, with both of them leading sometimes in conflicting polls.

Erap wasn’t written of yet and most educated Filipinos were probably rooting for the ‘intellectual’ choice – Gilberto ‘Gibo’ Teodoro, an honest and hard-working civil servant, who was unfortunately associated with the current (and hated) ‘regime’ of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Having lived 9 of the last 12 months in the Philippines, it was pretty obvious even for me as an outsider with a hand at the pulse of normal people of this beautiful island nation, what topics bothered and moved the country. With this year’s tune focused on eradicating corruption and improving the living conditions of the poor, Noynoy hit the notes probably the best – telling not too much about details, while avoiding the bigger mishaps.

Can he deliver?

Now comes the hard part. So far, more than 80% of the votes are in and counted, but the results are pretty obvious. With Aquino leading his next rival – the suprisingly reborn Zombie ERAP – by a margin of more than 3 Mio votes in a tally of over 50 Million, it’s very much clear at this point, that he will be the incoming president.

Manny Villar conceded and acknowledged his defeat already, Gibo will do the same within the next few hours.

What will Erap do? Does he still has an ace up his sleeves? Let’s see about that. After all, his running mate for VP, Jejomar Binay, looks to be the winner in the VP battle.

The main question will remain: can Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III deliver and solve the main economic and social problems of the country. The rampant corruption, endemic poverty and unhealthy dependence of the country on overseas remittances are only the biggest issues to tackle. The current population explosion (there are more than 3.1 children born for every female), a widening educational gap and the meddling of the church in political affairs are other critical problems.

He probably has to work together with most likely Vice President Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who was leading his preferred choice Senator Manuel Roxas II by more than 700,000 votes at last count.

For us travelers, it would also be nice to have the ailing tourist industry revived, to improve the country’s infrastructure and put its beautiful holiday destinations back on the tourist map. Although some would see this as a double-edged sword – it would surely help the country to increase the influx of foreign capital, adding additional sources of income for its population and boosting the economy – increasing prices and other negative aspects (as seen in Thailand or Bali) would surely follow, although currently starting from a very low base.

Conclusion

Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino’s win and most likely inauguration as the next president of the Philippines don’t come completely unexpected, yet they are only a start.

Even if he was not the best possible candidate for educated and realistic observers here, he should have the potential to move things forwards for the country. Even more so than dividing figures like Manny Villar or Joseph Estrada.

Now is the time for Filipinos to get over the election results and unite behind him.

The name Aquino alone still pulls and the population will embrace the right direction, once it is set. Noynoy Aquino should build on his legacy and try to be the uniting force in the country, average Filipinos elected him for.

Let’s hope, that Noynoy’s embarrassing sister Kris Aquino won’t steal the limelight too often and he will have all the time to start working on the issues as soon as possible and necessary.

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What do you think about the next president of the Philippines? Does he have what it takes? Where should he start to pull the country out of its misery? Please comment and share your insights in the comment form below.

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written by Chris