Duterte is most talked-about presidential candidate on Facebook

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Among the five bets gunning for the country's highest position, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is the most discussed presidential candidate in the last five months on Facebook.

Facebook said in a press release that from November 20, 2015 to April 20, 2016, 17.9 million people globally engaged in conversations related to the Philippine elections. This generated 176 million interactions in terms of likes, posts, comments, and shares, on the social media platform.

Out of the 176 million interactions, Duterte owned 68 percent of the conversations on presidential bets. Conversations on Duterte peaked on April 17 when the video of him making rape remarks about late Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill circulated.

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Duterte is followed by former Sec. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II (46 percent) who currently has a four percent lead over Sen. Grace Poe. They are followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay (27 percent) and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (19 percent).

For the vice-presidential bets, Duterte's running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano topped the Facebook conversations with 43 percent. Facebook noted an increase in converstations on Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (36 percent) and Rep. Leni Robredo (35 percent). Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero is in the fourth place with 25 percent, Sen. Antonio Trillanes with 19 percent, and Sen. Gregorio Honasan with 4 percent.

The top five issues in the Philippines on Facebook are transparency, economy, education, social welfare, and defense and foreign policy.

Women under the age 18 to 24 are the most engaged in election-related conversations on Facebook.

Facebook, however, said the statistics is not endorsing any candidate and may not necessarily reflect what will happen on election day (May 9).