Initial Results of Philippines Midterms Show No Clear Winner

TaiwanPlus News

Initial results from midterm elections in the Philippines suggest neither the Marcos nor Duterte faction has won full control of the Senate. The outcome could determine the fate of Vice President Sara Duterte, who is now facing impeachment.

Transcript

00:00In the sweltering heat, people lined up on Monday morning to vote in the Philippines' midterm elections.

00:07A heated battle between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.

00:13Once ironclad political allies, now bitter rivals.

00:18Voters here say the recent political turmoil caused by this rivalry has taken a toll on the country

00:24and that they are ready for change.

00:26For me, the government is getting stressful. That's why our votes are very important.

00:34I hope we choose the deserving candidates.

00:37Thousands of elected positions across the country are at stake, from the national legislature down to local posts.

00:45But it's the Senate that people are paying close attention to.

00:49Half of the 24 Senate seats are up for grabs.

00:52Those senators could decide the fate of Vice President Sara Duterte.

00:57Who is facing allegations of misuse of funds.

01:01She was impeached by Congress last February, but may run for president in 2028.

01:07Should the Senate vote to convict her, Duterte would be banned from holding elected office.

01:13The partial and unofficial election results that have come in so far

01:17show that the new batch of 12 senators neither fully favor the Marcos or Duterte camp.

01:22While the country's liberal opposition had a surprising upset, gaining two seats in the Senate.

01:29In a statement, Vice President Duterte said that while she acknowledges the results of the elections,

01:34the outcome was not what she expected, and called on citizens to hold the government accountable.

01:40In another statement, President Marcos also lamented the results, but says that his party vows to carry on in their work.

01:47Here in Taiwan, voters overwhelmingly voted for Duterte-aligned candidates,

01:53showing the camp's strong support among overseas Filipinos,

01:57where voters cast their ballots online through their personal devices.

02:00While overseas voting went without incident, the same could not be said for the Philippines.

02:09Besides reports of malfunctioning voting machines and incidents of overvoting due to machines

02:15incorrectly reading the back-to-back ballots,

02:18riots, gun violence, and even a deadly shootout were reported in several cities and municipalities.

02:24Despite this, the Philippines' election commission says this round of voting was still relatively successful.

02:31If we don't have a failure of elections whatsoever, all of them have functioned.

02:36It's not a failure to elect because it is not based on violence, intimidation, threat, or force majeure.

02:46With the midterm elections over, the stability of the Philippines' two biggest political dynasties

02:51will be further put to the test in the coming weeks and months.

02:56Devin Tsai and Gina Lopez for Taiwan Plus.

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