PATIENCE. Voters queue outside a Manila polling center.

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine voters streamed to polling stations on Monday, May 9, in one of the most divisive presidential election in decades, pitting mainly Vice President Leni Robredo against former senator and congressman Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the son and namesake of a dictator.

Voters started lining up long before polls opened at 6 am, with polling precincts due to operate for longer than usual because of COVID-19 precautions.

Comelec Commissioner George Erwin Garcia said he was “overwhelmed’ by the number of voters flocking to polling centers despite the pandemic threat. But in some instances, long queues were also reportedly due to malfunctioning vote-counting machines.

Here are some of the sights and scenes on the ground:

– with a report from Reuters/Rappler.com

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