Maverick mayor Duterte set to clinch Philippines presidency
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MANILA- Firebrand city mayor Rodrigo Duterte looked virtually certain to become the Philippines' next president as election results poured in on Monday, confirmation that the political outsider's pledges to crush crime and corruption had resonated with voters.
Five hours after polling stations had closed, a rolling ballot count by an election commission-accredited watchdog showed that Duterte had about 39 percent of the votes cast. An exit poll of a small number of voters showed a similar lead.
Asked by a television interviewer what he thought about his apparent victory, Duterte gave a puzzling answer.
"Sometimes I'm victorious and the winner, sometimes there's always losing and being sad, sometimes being sick and healthy," he told CNN Philippines, slouched in a chair and dressed casually in a checked, short-sleeve shirt.
