Millions of Filipinos began casting their votes at polling centers across the country on Monday to pick a new president.

Five candidates are vying for the presidency to succeed Benigno Aquino III, whose six-year term ends on June 30.

CRAVING FOR CHANGE

At a polling precinct in Binondo, Manila, voters arrived early in the morning to avoid burning sun and long queue.

They fell in line in the holding area, provided their IDs and precinct numbers and then got their ballot, marker along with secrecy folder and went to the voting area to vote.

They put their ballots into the vote counting machines, have their right forefinger marked with indelible ink, and check the receipt to see if their votes really went to the candidate they support.

"I voted for Duterte because I'm so tired of those politicians. I want a different type of president and see if he can make a change to the country," said Richel Mapa, a local worker.

During the presidential campaign period, the general public's crave for change has been very apparent, as they have grown to be disappointed at the country struck by poverty, corruption and public security crises.

Most of the voters interviewed by Xinhua said they want the new president to lead a fast developing country that is corruption free and an improved social security net.

Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao, embodied the hope of change to many Filipinos like Mapa.

The 71-year-old mayor has been leading most of the opinion polls since April. Some 33 percent of the voters said they would vote for Duterte in the final pre-election survey conducted by Social Weather Station.

The country's renowned polling body carried out the survey from May 1 to May 3 through face-to-face interviews with 4,500 validated voters nationwide with a sampling error margin of 1 point.

The foul-mouthed candidate is known to have made Davao one of the safest cities in the Philippines through tough regulations and iron-fist approach in crime fighting.

During the presidential campaign period, he vowed to wipe out corruption, drugs and criminality in three to six months if he wins the election.

In his "miting de avance," a gathering of supporters of respective candidates where they would make their last appeal of support, held on Saturday, he called out to criminals to assassinate him on the night. He said otherwise he would kill them all when he became the president.

Arra Zhou, a shop assistant, said he voted for Duterte because the candidate would carry out policies in favor of the general public.

Zhou added Duterte made life better for residents in Davao city by improving public security situation and traffic, likewise, he would be able to make things better nationwide if elected president.

His aggressive behavior and offensive language won him a lot of supporters, but aroused concerns and controversy as well.

The outgoing president Aquino has warned repeatedly the risk for the country to fall under a dictatorship if citizens voted Duterte.

Analysts warned possible political instability if Duterte became the president as his "revolutionary government" would be most unlikely to get support from the congress.

Concerns also grow among common voters. Huang Xiangyi, a businessperson, said while Duterte is popular, he is also unpredictable and can make things worse.

Huang voted for Binay because Binay knows more about business and economics and the country would be a stable one under his office.

Senator Grace Poe, 47, had 22 percent of support in Social Weather Station's latest survey, being the second most popular candidate.

Adopted child of the late movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. and a first-term senator, Poe's fresh-face and her care for the poor has won over many voters in the early stage of the campaign.

People believed a green hand would bring new perspectives when dealing the country's old problems and that she would be an open and listening president.

In other words, Poe may also bring change to the country.

However, Poe's previous U.S. citizenship and the tortuous process to prove herself a natural born Filipino to be qualified for election hurt her.

Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel A. Roxas II's supporting rate remains at 20 percent in the latest survey. He is the grandson of the former Philippine President Manuel Roxas. Served in the cabinet of the Philippines as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government from 2012 to 2015, and supported by the outgoing president Aquino, Roxas is considered conservative and he left some people the impression of indecisive and lacking charisma.

The incumbent vice president Jejomar Binay was the first among five to announce his running for presidential election. He was once believed to be the most competitive candidate for this election but supports slipped away after he was caught in a corruption scandal. He only got 13 percent of support in the survey.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago got 2 percent of support. The survey said 4 percent were undecided.

VIOLENCE, CHEATING, UNPREDICTABILITY

"There are machines breaking down, people dying, votes being bought and being switched and some are stuck on the petty stuff. C'mon now," a netizen tweeted with screen name Jake Ejercito, posted on 1:31 p.m., the tweet has been retweeted for more than 1,300 times and received 2,274 likes in two hours.

Messages to call for a clean and honest election have been all over popular social website such as Facebook and twitter.

The country has a long history of election-related cheating and violence, which many Filipinos describe as a hopeless phenomena.

At both national and local level, the candidates would spend money or use their power to help voters solve problems in return for a favored vote.

A local journalist who declined to be named said he always wrote a letter to the head of the barangay before the election, saying he was in trouble and needed help. The barangay head would always help him out and took him to a certain presidential candidate's campaign activity to hint that the candidate needed vote.

"I once got our barangay's basketball team a dozen new uniforms through this way," said the journalist.

There are people posting unverified pictures of receiving envelops containing money from presidential candidates on facebook.

Rumor has it that switching ballots were discovered in previous elections and may also happen in this election.

As cheating exists, the election result becomes very unpredictable.

Violence is another nagging problem.

The Philippines implemented a total gun ban and installation of checkpoints all over the country for the election period from Jan. 10 to June 8.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines would ensure the strict implementation of the gun ban.

During the election period, it is prohibited to carry or transport firearms or other deadly weapons, unless a holder seeks exemption from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Still, at least 15 people were killed in election-related events since the start of the campaign period, according to statistics released by PNP.

The PNP said 28 election-related violent incidents had been recorded from Jan. 10 to May 8, which resulted in 9 injuries in addiction to 15 fatalities.

Besides electing a new president, voters will also be choosing candidates for vice president, hundreds of lawmakers and around 18,000 local officials.

Some 54 million Filipinos are eligible to vote in Monday's polls, which opened at 6:00 am local time (2200 GMT Sunday) and will close at 5:00 pm local time.

The election commission said unofficial outcome for the presidential and vice presidential polls will be expected within 72 hours.

Roxas has already voted in Roxas city at 8 am this morning, Binay voted in Makati city, Poe in San Juan, Santiago in Quezon city and Duterte voted in Davao city at around 3:20 pm.

Voting was delayed in some parts of the country early this morning due to vote counting machine malfunctioning such as rejected ballots and paper jams.