The former president detained Duterte is one of the candidates in the Philippines: NPR

Manila, Philippines – Even if he is detained in The Hague, the former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is among the candidates in the running for some 18,000 national and local seats in the mid -term Monday elections which, according to analysts, will decide if he and his family continue to hold political power.

Duterte has been in police custody of the International Criminal Court since March, awaiting the trial for crimes against humanity for a brutal war against illegal drugs that made thousands of dead suspects during its 2016-2022 presidency. This did not prevent him from presenting himself to the mayor of his bastion of the city of southern Davao.

Under the Philippine law, candidates facing criminal charges, including those in detention, may arise in the elections unless they have been sentenced and have exhausted all calls.

Duterte should largely win as mayor of Davao, a position he held for more than two decades before becoming president. It is less clear how it can practically serve as a mayor behind bars.

More than 68 million Philippins registered to vote on Monday for half of the Senate of 24 members, the 317 seats of the House of Representatives and various positions in the provinces, cities and municipalities. The spotlights are on the race for the Senate which could determine the political future of Duterte’s daughter, vice-president Sara Duterte.

She faces a trial of indictment in the Senate in July for accusations of conspiracy to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the corruption involving the intelligence funds of her office. She denied allegations, saying that they were distributed by her political opponents to destroy it.

Sara Duterte is considered a strong competitor for the 2028 presidential race. But if she is found guilty by the Senate, she will be returned vice-president and disqualified from the public service. To be acquitted, she needs at least nine of the 24 senators to vote in her favor.

“The mid-term elections of 2025 will be crucial, because the results will give the pace to what will then happen, which family or faction will dominate the elections in 2028,” said Maria Ela Atitienza, professor of political science at the University of the Philippines.

If Sara Duterte is sentenced in the indictment trial, this could point out the end of the Duterte family occupying key positions in the country, she said. The other members of the family who present themselves in the elections are the youngest son of Rodrigo Duterte, Sebastian, the outgoing mayor of Davao who now presents himself for the mayor vice. His eldest son Paolo is looking for a re -election as a member of the House of Representatives. Two grandsons also take place in local races.

The dismissal and the arrest and the transfer of Rodrigo Duterte to the court in The Hague came after the ties of Marcos and Sara Duterte took place on the political differences and their competing ambitions.

“This election will decide the future of our country,” said Sara Duterte in a rally in Manila last week, where she campaigned for the family candidates supported by the family and criticized the Marcos administration. “Your vote will decide if we can continue the reforms or continue to slide towards our destiny.”

His father’s spiritual advisor and a close political ally, televangalist Apollo Quiboloy, also presents himself for a siege in the Senate despite his accusations of sexual abuse and trafficking in human beings. He is also wanted in the United States for similar accusations.

The vote will last until 7 p.m. Monday. Some voters have complained that their name was missing in the list of voters in their constituency, while others grumbled the long queue in the middle of the stifling heat.

The voter Reymark Marquez said that the Marcos-Diterte team who had won in 2022 had not kept his promises. He said that the mid-term elections are “beyond Duterte against Marcos, but to choose the right leaders”.

“I think what is at stake in this election is the future of the next generation,” said Diana Joy Acosta, a new 32 -year -old mother, after having voted in a school in the city of Mandaluyong in Manila. For the future of her baby, she hopes for the end of corruption and the election of politicians with integrity.