Filipinos voting to elect new lawmakers, executives in mid-term elections

People in the Philippines are heading to the polls to cast their ballots in mid-term elections, which are expected to promote the allies of President Rodrigo Duterte and pave the way for him to gather legislative support for his controversial plans to restore the death penalty and rewrite the constitution.

Over 61 million Filipinos are registered to vote in the national elections on Monday, with police and military forces on high alert to safeguard the polling states.

The voters will elect new lawmakers and local executives from among roughly 43,000 candidates, who are competing for some 18,000 government posts.

The results for municipal and city mayors and councils are expected within hours of polls closing at 6:00 p.m. local time Monday, with winners of the Senate and congressional seats likely to be declared from Friday.

The most crucial race is for 12 seats in the 24-member Senate — the parliament’s upper house — that the president wants to fill with his own allies to push for his controversial legislative agenda.

“Polling suggests Duterte’s allies are likely to secure 10 or 11 of the 12 seats up for grabs, with the possibility of a clean sweep,” said Peter Mumford, practice head for Southeast and South Asia at risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

“This points to Duterte having the support of 18-20 of the 24 senators after May,” he added.

The Senate had in a number of occasions tempered Duterte’s proposed bills and policies, such as his attempts at amending the constitution to change the form of government from unitary to federal as well as reinstating the death penalty.

Manila outlawed capital punishment in 1987, reinstated it six years later and then abolished it again in 2006.

The opposition has raised concerns about a Senate more aligned with the administration, saying a victory for the president’s allies would reduce the chamber’s independence and allow Duterte to seek re-election through lifting the presidential term limit.

The 74-year-old president has repeatedly vowed to stand down at the end of his mandate, but his children look well-placed to continue its reign if the presidential term limit is not lifted.

The president’s daughter Sara is running to keep her post as mayor in its southern bailiwick of Davao city. Some see her as the president’s potential successor in the 2022 election.

Her younger brother Sebastian is also seeking the city’s vice-mayoral seat, while Duterte’s eldest son Paolo is standing for a seat in the lower House of Representatives. 

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