‘Duterte camp is obviously very strong’: Filipinos await outcome of mid-term elections

ISTANBUL

Millions of Filipinos are waiting for the outcome of mid-term elections, with experts indicating a boost for the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte.

About 68.43 million people were eligible to vote Monday to elect more than 18,000 officials, including 12 senators, all the members of the 317-seat House of Representatives and hotly contested municipal elections.

The election is widely seen as a referendum on the feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing an impeachment motion.

More than 97% of votes have been counted but official results are days away.

Sara Duterte’s father and former President Rodrigo Duterte, is detained at the International Criminal Court at the Hague for alleged crimes against humanity. The former president is on course to win the mayoral seat in Davao City, strengthening the influence of Duterte’s political family in the southern Philippines.

Georgi Engelbrecht, a Philippines expert at the Crisis Group think tank, said the unofficial results show the defeat of most Marcos-affiliated candidates as the rivalry continues between the two families for influence in the Philippines.

“Everybody was surprised by the scale of relative defeat of Marcos-affiliated senators and the fact that the Duterte camp is obviously very strong,” Engelbrecht told Anadolu in an interview from the Bangsamoro autonomous region in southern Philippines.

Marcos and Duterte were allies in the 2022 presidential elections but fell out as differences widened, with the vice president resigning from the Cabinet as then-education secretary last year.

While there are still old political dynasties that remain in power, Engelbrecht said that “at the same time, many people observe that similar lining, which is young independent candidates.”

“The key question will be about impeachment,” he said, referring to Duterte. “Marcos will find it now very difficult to move against Sara Duterte.”

Among the possible winning senators is Imee Marcos, the elder sister of President Marcos, who supports the Duterte camp.

“I still think the administration might choose to have a tailor-made strategy for different senators to make them accept a deal to move against Sara,” said Engelbrecht.

But he acknowledged that “Sara has the public sentiment on her side, viz-a-viz Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest. She has the support of people ... But beyond that, I think the administration still has some advantages. So, it will be hard for Marcos and I think the ball is definitely in his hands.”

Duterte was arrested March 11 in Manila under an International Criminal Court warrant and was flown to The Hague the same day, despite the fact that Manila withdrew from the Rome Statue that established the court.

During a parliamentary briefing last month, Imee Marcos said the arrest of Duterte was pre-planned as officials from the Marcos administration refused to testify before a Senate committee.