MANILA: Campaigning began on Tuesday (Feb 11) in the Philippines for mid-term elections that could set the table for the next presidential race and determine the political future of impeached Vice President Sara Duterte.
Talk show hosts, movie stars and a preacher jailed on sex-trafficking charges are among the candidates vying for a dozen open Senate seats.
While the May 12 vote will fill more than 18,000 posts nationwide, it is the would-be senators who are facing a duty few bargained for – serving as jurists in the impeachment trial of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s eldest daughter.
The vice president, whose alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos has imploded spectacularly, was impeached by the House of Representatives last week on charges of “violation of the constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes”.
Sixteen votes in the 24-seat Senate are now needed to deliver a conviction that would bar Duterte from public office, including a presidential run she says she is “seriously considering”.
“The composition of the next Senate will be crucial” to the trial’s outcome, Dennis Coronacion, head of the political science department of Manila’s University of Santo Tomas, told AFP.
The Duterte camp last week put out a statement urging voters to “choose wisely who they will vote for, especially in the Senate, where the fate of VP Sara will be decided”.
That message resonated with Gina Tamayo, a 43-year-old fruit vendor, who told AFP she would not support a candidate who might vote to impeach Duterte.
“I don’t believe the allegations against her,” Tamayo said.
But Charity Vargas, 39, said her vote would not be influenced by the impeachment issue.
“I know who I should vote for … those who have proven themselves already and are honest.”
