Election jitters send Philippine investors to sidelines

Manila

PHILIPPINE stocks fell the most since February after a poll showed tough-talking Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte maintaining a comfortable lead a week before the presidential election.

Mr Duterte had 33 per cent support in the Pulse Asia for ABS-CBN survey that was released after the markets closed on Friday, followed by Senator Grace Poe with 22 per cent. While he's promised a "bloody war" on criminals, Mr Duterte hasn't given out much information on his wider agenda and his lead has contributed to the peso weakening the most in Asia in the past month. He ranked third, behind Mar Roxas and Ms Poe, in a Bloomberg survey last month that asked analysts who was the best candidate to run the economy.