18,000 posts up for grabs as precincts open for polls

A voter inserts her ballot in a vote counting machine after voting at a precint in Makati City.
ARNOLD ALMACEN / INQUIRER

The day of reckoning has come.

Some 54.5 million registered voters are set to troop to thousands of polling centers on Monday to cast their votes for 18,000 local posts—which include the hotly contested presidency.

The 92,000 polling precincts opened at 6 a.m. and will remain open until 5 p.m.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expects a 75 to 80 percent voter turnout.

In a press conference, the Comelec has vowed that it will conduct the “most transparent” polls in the country’s electoral history.

Leading the presidential race is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with a double-digit lead over his closest rival, Senator Grace Poe—the erstwhile front-runner in preference polls.

Meanwhile, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, and Camarines Sur representative Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo are neck in neck for the vice presidency.

The Comelec said it was 100 percent ready to conduct the country’s third automated elections.