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hoever wins the Philippines’ presidential election is expected to work collaboratively to achieve ASEAN Community goals and to help solve South China Sea problems.

Filipinos are choosing a new president from five contenders on Monday, with Trump-like candidate Rodrigo Duterte the most likely to succeed incumbent Benigno Aquino III, according to a number of polls.

Duterte, 71, will face senator and former teacher in the US Grace Poe, Aquino-backed Manuel Roxas II, Vice President Jejomar Binay and senator and former agrarian minister Miriam Santiago.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said that regardless of who won Indonesia was expecting the continuation and improvement of bilateral ties.

“We also hope that the Philippines and all the other ASEAN countries can improve collaborative efforts toward achieving the 2025 ASEAN Community visions,” he told The Jakarta Post via SMS.

On Saturday, Duterte drew a crowd of some 300,000 to his final rally at Luneta Park in Manila, according to The Straits Times. Crowds gathered at the rallies of Poe, Roxas and Binay, meanwhile, were said to contain between 10,000 and 50,000 people.

Duterte — the former mayor of Davao — has attracted crowds with his tough talking and has often been likened to US businessman and presidential hopeful Donald Trump. His electability does not seem to have waned, despite insensitive remarks about rape in April that drew heavy criticism from his rivals and others within and outside the Philippines.

Duterte has pledged more executing of criminals if elected. As mayor he has transformed Davao from “murder capital” into the country’s safest city. Davao’s economy has also grown faster than the national average on his watch.

The person seen as most likely to challenge Duterte in Monday’s ballot is Poe, who last week rejected an offer from the incumbent administration to form an alliance, interpreting the offer as a call for her to withdraw and back Roxas.

Poe’s pro-poor platform has resonated with Filipinos, as has her life story: abandoned at a church as a baby and adopted by movie stars.

Despite his brash demeanor, Duterte’s approach to the South China Sea conflict is friendlier toward China than those of other candidates. He favors bilateral talks with China and the sharing of ocean resources through joint exploration.

Poe, meanwhile, wants to take a multilateral diplomatic approach to resolve the dispute, and Roxas supports the current policy, rejecting any joint exploration deal until sovereignty issues are resolved.

Experts say that whoever is elected should rely on a regional platform for solving cross-border issues, including those related to the South China Sea. The new president, suggests Paramadina University international relations expert Dinna Wisnu, should also continue existing agreements with Indonesia, which should help to strengthen ASEAN.

Regional teamwork from the new president, Dinna said, would “strengthen the ASEAN mechanism, enabling it to handle the many facets of development in the ASEAN Community”.

“The Philippines and Indonesia share an interest in keeping ASEAN central amid global political and economic problems,” he asserted.

Makmur Keliat, an ASEAN expert from the University of Indonesia, says the next president should continue to work on the South China Sea issue through regional and multilateral platforms, noting dangers in relying on a bilateral approach to solving overlapping claims.

“Resorting to bilateral platforms might anger neighbors, such as Malaysia and Vietnam, which also have claims in those waters. It might threaten ASEAN unity,” he said.

Dinna agreed with Makmur, saying that solving the conflict using bilateral means was exactly what China wanted and could pit claimant countries against each other.