NATIONAL CANVASS About an hour before the polls closed on Monday, the Commission on Elections convened at the Philippine International Convention Center to serve as the national board of canvassers for the midterm elections. —RICHARDA. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos headed to the polls on Monday in a vote that is expected to strengthen President Rodrigo Duterte’s grip on power, opening the way for him to deliver on pledges to restore the death penalty and rewrite the 1987 Constitution for a shift to a federal form of government.
More than 18,000 positions were at stake, including half of the 24-seat Senate, which has served as a bulwark against some of the President’s most controversial policies.
The President is known internally for his colorful language and deadly war on drugs, but remains popular among Filipinos fed up with the country’s general dysfunction and leaders who have to fix it.
He wants to bring back capital punishment for drug-related crimes as part of his crackdown on narcotics in which more than 5,200 alleged pushers and users, mostly urban poor, have been killed by police.
Key to 2016 victory
His tough-on-crime platform — which also includes lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 — was key to his election victory by plurality in 2016.
The President himself acknowledged that Monday’s vote was a referendum on his government.
“It could be taken as one referendum so that if you agree with me, then you can vote for my candidates or the people I’m supporting in this election,” he said after voting in his hometown of Davao City.
“Now if I am repudiated by the loss of all [my] candidates, then that would indicate that majority of the people don’t like me. That’s easy, easy to solve,” he added.
“If [the] media demands that I step down, I will step down,” he added.
Voters crowded voting centers in Metro Manila even ahead of polls opening at 6 a.m. in automated midterm elections where some 62 million were registered to cast ballots.
“I voted for many of the candidates endorsed by President Duterte because his government is doing its job,” said Myrna Cruz, 51.
“I support their programs, including the antidrug campaign . . . but I wish the bloodshed would stop,” she added, echoing many Filipinos’ nuanced backing of the crackdown.
The opening of the polls was accompanied by isolated outbursts of violence, which is not unusual in the Philippines’ frequently bloody competition for elective offices.
At least 20 people have been killed and 24 wounded in election-related violence in the run-up to the vote, according to the Philippine National Police.
Early on Monday, nine people were shot and wounded during a confrontation at a polling station in Jolo, which is home to insurgents and powerful local clans, according to the military.
The violence is more frequent with the local races and will not likely be a major feature in the elections’ main contest for the Senate.
Legislative backing
Winning a Senate majority would give Mr. Duterte legislative backing for his anticrime proposals and his plan to rewrite the Constitution for a shift to federalism, which some critics fear may be a cover for the removal of term limits.
Historically, the nation’s 24 senators — who serve six-year terms — have had a reputation for being more independent-minded than the members of the House of Representatives.
The opposition warns a Duterte majority in the Senate could lead to the single-term limit for the presidency being lifted, allowing him to seek reelection despite his repeated statements that he would stand down at the end of his mandate.
It would also allow the President to expand his contentious drug war by bringing back the death penalty, a pledge that the UN Human Rights Council said gave it “deep alarm.”
The Philippines outlawed capital punishment in 1987, reinstated it six years later and then abolished it again in 2006.
The 74-year-old President hit the campaign trail to get his supporters in the Senate, giving two-hour speeches at late-night rallies and routinely insulting their opponents — referring to one by an antigay slur and accusing another of working for communist guerrillas.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, the President’s daughter, told a press briefing on Monday that her father’s motivation was to win backing for his legislative agenda.
“We really worked hard during this campaign to present to the people the senatorial candidates who understand the vision of our President,” she said.
Opposition shutout
Opinion polls indicate that Duterte-backed candidates will prevail in the race for the Senate, the latest putting 11 or 12 of the President’s allies among the 15 seen as having a chance.
Only one opposition candidate was among the 15, demonstrating what analysts say is the President’s growing clout and an opposition struggling with relevance, cohesion and leadership.
“Duterte’s No. 1 objective is to consolidate power . . . He’ll get a big mandate, maybe even possible three-fourths of the Senate,” political analyst Ramon Casiple said.
“The opposition may not get even one seat and that would be a record. A complete shutout,” he said.
The results for municipal and city mayors and councils were expected within hours of polls closing at 6 p.m. on Monday, with winners of the races for the Senate and the House likely to be declared from Friday. —Reports from the wires, Julie M. Aurelio and Karlos Manlupig