Vice presidential candidate Alan Peter Cayetano and presidential bet Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Going into the final stretch of the campaign period, presidential poll front-runner Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and his running mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano remained to be the most talked-about candidates on Facebook.
Citing data from November 20 to May 2, Facebook said Duterte accounted for 83 percent of election-related conversations on the social networking platform, while Cayetano got 42 percent.
READ: Duterte, Cayetano generate most buzz on Facebook
The social network defines election-related conversation as “any post or comment that contains highly specific and targeted keywords or hashtags related to either the election itself, a candidate, a party, or a specific topic that might be playing a large role in the election itself” regardless of perception.
The tough-talking Davao mayor was followed by administration standard-bearer Mar Roxas (57 percent), independent candidate Senator Grace Poe (50 percent), Vice President Jejomar Binay (33 percent) and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago (27percent).
READ: Duterte, Cayetano most talked-about bets on Facebook
Cayetano was followed by front-runner Camarines Sur representative Leni Robredo (37 percent), who edged out Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (35 percent). The son and namesake of the late dictator led the conversations in early March.
In the days leading to the May 9 vote, Duterte brushed off allegations of hidden wealth and corruption as he maintained a double-digit lead over his rivals in preelection surveys.
Duterte, a self-confessed adulterer, is also known for his profanity-laced speeches and controversial remarks, including cursing the Pope as “son of a whore” and joking that he should have been first to rape an Australian missionary who was murdered during a Davao prison riot in 1989.
The feisty mayor, who vowed to wipe out criminality within three to six months should he win the presidency, has been widely criticized for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings in his turf and alleged links to the so-called Davao Death Squad. He publicly admitted killing criminals on different occasions.
If elected president, Duterte vowed to dump criminals on Manila Bay, pardon himself for mass murder, and abolish Congress should there be attempts to impeach him.
Facebook said a total of 20.8 million people have engaged in election-related conversations as of May 2, generating 229 million interactions (posts, like, comments) on the platform.
Transparency remained to be the most-talked about election issue among netizens with 84 percent, followed by the economy (41 percent), education (32 percent), social welfare (32 percent), defense and foreign policy (24 percent), health (20 percent), infrastructure (10 percent), environment (4 percent), and trafficking (2 percent). IDL