Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was elected mayor of his home city by a landslide, official results showed yesterday, despite his detention by the International Criminal Court.
The Davao election board proclaimed Duterte won the race for Davao mayor, with the official tally showing that he garnered more than 660,000 votes, or eight times as many as his closest rival.
Elated supporters chanted “Duterte, Duterte” when the result was announced.
Photo: EPA-EFE
His youngest son, Sebastian, the incumbent mayor of Davao, was declared Davao vice mayor. His eldest son, Paolo, was re-elected as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives, and two grandsons won in local races, an indication of the family’s continued influence.
“Duterte landslide in Davao,” his youngest daughter Veronica wrote on social media.
Partial unofficial results showed at least five candidates backed by the Duterte family were also among those leading the race for 12 Senate positions, in a stronger-than-expected showing in Monday’s midterm elections. Pre-election surveys had indicated only two of them would emerge victorious.
The results come as a boost for Duterte’s daughter, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, ahead of an impeachment trial in the Senate in July over a raft of charges including alleged misuse of public funds and plotting to assassinate Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and the House speaker.
Sara Duterte is considered a strong contender for the 2028 presidential race, but if convicted by the Senate, she would lose her job and would be disqualified from holding public office forever. To be acquitted, she needs at least nine of the 24 senators to vote in her favor.
Results of the Senate race will be known in a week. Apart from the five Duterte-backed candidates, the others leading in the top 12 included five endorsed by Marcos and two opposition candidates.
While the senate race outcome was encouraging for Sara Duterte, the jury is still out on how the impeachment trial will go for her, said Jean Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.
If damning evidence were raised against her, Franco indicated that it could hurt her chances of an acquittal.
The Senate race unofficial results also showed that support for Marcos, whose approval rating fell last month, is dwindling and could turn up surprises in the 2028 elections, Franco added.
Marcos in a statement thanked Filipinos who voted, saying: “Our democracy has renewed itself — peacefully, orderly and with dignity.”
“We may not have won every seat, but our work and mission continue,” he said.
The impeachment and Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, came after Marcos and Sara Duterte’s ties unraveled over political differences and their competing ambitions.
Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters slammed the government for arresting and surrendering the former president to a court whose jurisdiction they dispute.
Nicknamed “the Punisher” and “Dirty Harry,” Rodrigo Duterte served as Davao’s mayor for two decades before becoming president. He has been in the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague since March, awaiting trial for crimes against humanity over a brutal war on illegal drugs that left thousands of suspects dead during his presidency.
Under Philippine law, candidates facing criminal charges, including those in detention, can run for office unless they have been convicted and have exhausted all appeals.
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