Candidates aligned with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. are set to sweep the Senate elections in May, according to a new public opinion survey. The survey, published yesterday by the local pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS), shows that nine of the 12 senatorial candidates endorsed by Marcos, Jr. are amongContinue Reading
The Dutertes and their loyal supporters have organized marches, motorcades, and prayer rallies to protest the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on March 11 and his turnover into the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands. They have condemned what they described as the “kidnapping” ofContinue Reading
I have just returned from Manila, where I attended a program on reimagining the university that included a session on extrajudicial killings. Survivors shared harrowing testimonies: stories of family members taken in the dead of night, of justice denied, and of children caught in the crossfire of former President RodrigoContinue Reading
Philippine police today arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte in connection with the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s ongoing investigation into his violent anti-drug campaign. In a statement, the presidential palace said that the 79-year-old was arrested this morning at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport after returning from Hong Kong. “Early inContinue Reading
A senior Philippine police official has filed a criminal complaint against former President Rodrigo Duterte over comments he made during a campaign rally last week, at which he jokingly threatened to kill 15 incumbent senators to make way for his party’s own slate of candidates. The complaint against Duterte wasContinue Reading
The first week of the mid-term election campaign in the Philippines was marked by a vicious exchange of words between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former President Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos minced no words in highlighting the notorious legacy of his predecessor when he introduced the senatorial candidates endorsed by hisContinue Reading
The 90-day campaign period for the Philippines’ mid-term elections opened today, against the backdrop of a bitter political feud that culminated in last week’s impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte. A total of 18,280 seats will be up for grabs in the May 12 polls, including all 317 seats inContinue Reading
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte says that she plans to fight to clear her name during her upcoming impeachment trial while airing a possible run for the presidency in 2028. At a press conference on Friday, Duterte said that she was innocent of the accusations made against her in theContinue Reading
One benefit of hailing from a country with a parliamentary system is that one’s immune to the drama of impeachment. If a prime minister is a criminal or unloved, the ruling party simply quorums a vote amongst its members and finds a new leader. (My own country has trialed fourContinue Reading
The Philippine House of Representatives has voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, paving the way for a Senate trial that could see her removed from office. In yesterday’s vote, 215 of the House’s 306 members backed the resolution that set forth the articles of impeachment. “Having been filed byContinue Reading
