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Detained Philippines ex-President Duterte wins mayoral race in his home city

[May 13, 2025] By TERESA CEROJANO

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was elected as mayor in his home city by a landslide, official results showed Tuesday, 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 over 660,000 votes, or eight times as many as his closest rival. Elated supporters chanted “Duterte, Duterte” when the result was announced.

His youngest son, Sebastian, the incumbent mayor of Davao, was declared Davao vice mayor. His eldest son, Paolo, was reelected as a member of the 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 posted on Facebook

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, 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 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 will lose her job and will 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 others 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 from the University of the Philippines. If damning evidence were raised against her, Franco indicated it could hurt her chances of an acquittal.

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Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, center, arrives to cast her vote at a polling center in Davao City, southern Philippines, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Manman Dejeto)

The Senate race unofficial results also showed that support for Marcos, whose approval rating fell in April, is dwindling and could turn up surprises in the 2028 elections, Franco added.

In a statement, Marcos 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 added.

The impeachment and Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and transfer to the tribunal in The Hague came after Marcos and Sara Duterte’s ties unraveled over political differences and their competing ambitions. Duterte supporters slammed Marcos’s government for arresting and surrendering the former leader to a court whose jurisdiction his supporters dispute.

Nicknamed “the Punisher” and “Dirty Harry,” 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, Netherlands, since March, awaiting trial for crimes against humanity over a brutal war on illegal drugs that left thousands of suspects dead during his 2016-2022 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.

Sara Duterte had told reporters after voting Monday that she was in talks with her father's lawyers on how he could take his oath as mayor despite being behind bars. She had said the vice mayor would likely be the acting mayor.

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