Latest news with #midtermelection
CNA
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Philippine president asks Cabinet secretaries to resign in post-midterm poll reset
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has called on all of his Cabinet secretaries to resign following an underwhelming result in the country's midterm election a week ago. Last week's polls were seen as a proxy battle between the country's main political dynasties. It saw more opposition candidates take control of crucial seats in the Senate. Buena Bernal reports from Manila.
CNA
14-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Philippines' midterm election: What's at stake for Marcos and Duterte camps?
CNA938 Rewind Play The Philippines is eagerly awaiting the results of the midterm election, with over 18,000 positions up for grabs, including local and congressional seats. But the spotlight is on the Senate race. The contest in the Senate is not only seen as a referendum on President Ferdinand Marcos Junior's leadership, but it could also determine the political future of Vice President Sara Duterte. Andrea Heng and Hairianto Diman look at what's at stake for the Marcos and Duterte camps with Alicor Panao, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Philippines elections 2025: polls open in midterms as Marcos and Duterte family dynasties vie for power
Millions of Filipinos began voting on Monday in a midterm election widely seen as a referendum on the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached vice-president Sara Duterte. Workers in the capital, Manila, were busily setting up polling stations on Sunday for a race that will decide more than 18,000 posts, from seats in the House of Representatives to hotly contested municipal offices. It is the Senate race, however, that carries potentially major implications for 2028's presidential election. The 12 senators elected on Monday will form half the jury in a Duterte impeachment trial – tentatively set for July – that could see her permanently barred from public office. In a speech at a rally last week, Duterte said her name, and her family's name 'have been dragged through the mud'. 'Who will really benefit if the Duterte family is gone from this world? Not the Filipinos, not the victims of crime, the unemployed, the poor or even the hungry.' Duterte's long-simmering feud with former ally Marcos exploded in February when she was impeached by the House for alleged 'high crimes' including corruption and an assassination plot against the president. She has denied the allegations, adding that she had presented the assassination plot as a hypothetical scenario. Barely a month later, her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested and flown to the international criminal court (ICC) the same day to face a charge of crimes against humanity over his deadly anti-drugs campaign. Sara Duterte will need nine votes in the 24-seat Senate to preserve any hope of a future presidential run. Heading into Monday, seven of the candidates polling in the top 12 were endorsed by Marcos while four were aligned with his vice-president. Two, including the president's independent-minded sister Imee Marcos, were 'adopted' as honorary members of the Duterte family's PDP-Laban party on Saturday. The move to add Imee Marcos and television personality Camille Villar to the party's slate was intended to add 'more allies to protect the vice-president against impeachment', according to the resolution. At her final rally in Manila on Thursday, Duterte invoked the spectre of 'massive' electoral fraud and once again referred to her father's transfer to the ICC as a 'kidnapping'. Despite his detention at The Hague, the elder Duterte remains on the ballot in his family's southern stronghold of Davao city, where he is seeking to retake his former job as mayor. At least one local poll is predicting he will win comfortably. National police in the archipelago nation have been on alert for more than a week, and about 163,000 officers have been deployed to secure polling stations, escort election officials and guard checkpoints. Thousands more personnel from the military, fire departments and other agencies have been mobilised to keep the peace in a country where battles over hotly contested provincial posts are known to erupt in violence. A city council hopeful, a polling officer and a village chief are among the at least 16 people police say have been killed in attacks in the run-up to Monday's election. On Saturday, a candidate for municipal councillor was one of two men in an 'armed group' killed in a shootout with police and the military in southern Mindanao island's autonomous Muslim region, a notorious hotbed of election-related violence. Farther north, a group of men were arrested the same day at the Cebu airport while transporting 441m pesos (nearly $8m) in cash, a crime under election rules aimed at preventing the exchange of bribes for votes. Both cases were still under investigation.
Reuters
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Philippines votes in high-stakes midterms amid Marcos-Duterte showdown
MANILA, May 12 (Reuters) - Voting was underway in the Philippines on Monday for a normally low-key midterm election that is showcasing an emotionally charged proxy battle between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and ally-turned-foe, Vice President Sara Duterte. Duterte and Marcos are not on the ballot for more than 18,000 positions but have been campaigning aggressively for their slates of candidates, as their bitter rivalry dominates a contest that could influence the future dynamic of power in the country of 110 million people. At stake for Marcos is his policy agenda, his legacy and influence over his succession in 2028, while Duterte's political survival could ride on the vote, with an impeachment trial looming that could kill any future hopes of becoming president and following in the footsteps of father Rodrigo Duterte. While posts for mayors, governors and lower house lawmakers are up for grabs, the tussle for Marcos and Duterte is over a dozen coveted seats in the 24-member Senate, a chamber with sweeping legislative influence and political clout that can shape public opinion and sink presidential ambitions. "This election is more than an informal referendum on the Marcos administration," said Aries Arugay, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines. "The Senate race is the key proxy battle ... Marcos needs to retain a majority, or supermajority, to push forward his legislative and economic agenda." The election has a new significance after the collapse of the once formidable alliance between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties and the dramatic fall from grace of the popular Duterte family, which has accused the president of orchestrating a campaign to destroy the biggest challengers to his power. What began as a united front that swept the 2022 election unravelled into an acrimonious feud, marked by a torrent of personal accusations and a bid to impeach Duterte on allegations she misused funds, amassed unexplained wealth and threatened the lives of the president, first lady and the house speaker. The Senate race is critical, with its members to become jurors if an impeachment trial goes ahead, where Duterte faces removal from office and a lifetime ban. At least 16 votes - a two-thirds majority - is needed to convict her. "That alone makes this more than just a typical midterm, so a lot is at stake," Arugay said. Fuelling the flames of an already charged race was Rodrigo Duterte's arrest by Philippine police in March at the request of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he is currently detained over a "war on drugs" during which thousands were killed. Despite his incarceration, he is on Monday's ballot for mayor in his hometown. Both Dutertes have denied wrongdoing and have challenged the cases against them. Marcos has distanced himself from the impeachment and rejects allegations of a vendetta against the Duterte family. Marcos has touted economic gains and his defence of sovereignty, campaigning on his tough stand against Beijing's conduct in the South China Sea, with China emerging as a political lightning rod in the election. Sara Duterte, for her part, has accused Marcos of selling out sovereignty in giving up a former president to a foreign court. "Who truly stands to benefit if the Duterte family is erased from this world?" she said while campaigning. "Not the Filipinos."
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Philippines heads to polls with Marcos-Duterte feud centre stage
Millions of Filipinos will vote Monday in a mid-term election widely seen as a referendum on the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte. Workers in the capital Manila were busily setting up polling stations Sunday for a race that will decide more than 18,000 posts, from seats in the House of Representatives to hotly contested municipal offices. It is the Senate race, however, that carries potentially major implications for 2028's presidential election. The 12 senators chosen Monday will form half the jury in a Duterte impeachment trial -- tentatively set for July -- that could see her permanently barred from public office. Duterte's long-simmering feud with former ally Marcos exploded in February when she was impeached by the House for alleged "high crimes" including corruption and an assassination plot against the president. Barely a month later, her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested and flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) the same day to face a charge of crimes against humanity over his deadly anti-drugs campaign. Sara Duterte will need nine votes in the 24-seat Senate to preserve any hope of a future presidential run. Heading into Monday, seven of the candidates polling in the top 12 were endorsed by Marcos while four were aligned with his vice president. Two, including the president's independent-minded sister Imee Marcos, were "adopted" as honorary members of the Duterte family's PDP-Laban party on Saturday. The move to add Marcos and television personality Camille Villar to the party's slate was intended to add "more allies to protect the Vice President against impeachment", according to the resolution. At her final rally in Manila on Thursday, Duterte invoked the spectre of "massive" electoral fraud and once again referred to her father's transfer to the ICC as a "kidnapping". Despite his detention at The Hague, the elder Duterte remains on the ballot in his family's southern stronghold of Davao city, where he is seeking to retake his former job as mayor. At least one local poll is predicting he will win comfortably. - Election violence - National police in the archipelago nation have been on alert for more than a week, and around 163,000 officers have been deployed to secure polling stations, escort election officials and guard checkpoints. Thousands more personnel from the military, fire departments and other agencies have been mobilised to keep the peace in a country where battles over hotly contested provincial posts are known to erupt in violence. A city council hopeful, a polling officer and a village chief are among the at least 16 people police say have been killed in attacks in the run-up to Monday's election. On Saturday, a candidate for municipal councillor was one of two men in an "armed group" killed in a shootout with police and the military in southern Mindanao island's autonomous Muslim region, a notorious hotbed of election-related violence. Further north, a group of men were arrested the same day at the Cebu airport while transporting 441 million pesos (nearly $8 million) in cash, a crime under election rules aimed at preventing the exchange of bribes for votes. Both cases were still under investigation. cwl/sco
