Jamaine Punzalan

Voters (R) mark their ballots while others wait in line for their turn at a polling station during the mid-term election in Manila on May 12, 2025. Millions of Filipinos headed to the polls May 12 in a mid-term election widely seen as a referendum on the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte. Ted Aljibe, AFP

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1747029825500AFP__20250512__46AX3ZP__v1__Preview__PhilippinesVote.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Voters (R) mark their ballots while others wait in line for their turn at a polling station during the mid-term election in Manila on May 12, 2025. Millions of Filipinos headed to the polls May 12 in a mid-term election widely seen as a referendum on the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte. <em>Ted Aljibe, AFP </em></span></span></span>MANILA -- Millions of Filipinos braved long lines and soaring temperatures Monday to vote in a mid-term election seen as choosing sides in an explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte.</div><p>With temperatures hitting 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) in some places, George Garcia, head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), said some voting machines were &quot;overheating&quot;.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s slowing the voting process,&quot; he told reporters at a prison in southern Manila where inmates were casting ballots.</p><p>&quot;Due to the extreme heat, the ink (on the ballots) does not dry immediately, and the ballot ends up stuck on the scanners,&quot; Garcia said, adding officials in some areas were resorting to aiming electric fans at the machines.</p><p>Monday&#x27;s election will decide more than 18,000 posts, from seats in the House of Representatives to hotly contested municipal offices.</p><p>It is the battle for the Senate, however, that carries potentially major implications for the presidential election in 2028.</p><p>The 12 senators chosen nationally Monday will form half the jury in an impeachment trial of Duterte later this year that could see her permanently barred from public office.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/12/vp-sara-more-than-2-duterte-bets-have-realistic-chance-at-senate-seats-1224">VP Sara: &#x27;More than 2&#x27; Duterte bets have realistic chance at Senate seats</a></div><p>Duterte&#x27;s long-running feud with former ally Marcos erupted in February when she was impeached by the House for alleged &quot;high crimes&quot;, including corruption and an assassination plot against the president.</p><p>Barely a month later, her father -- former president Rodrigo Duterte -- was arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face a charge of crimes against humanity over his deadly drug crackdown.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/9/prosecutors-victims-have-until-june-9-to-submit-input-on-duterte-challenge-of-jurisdiction-1326">ICC sets deadline to submit observations on Duterte challenge of jurisdiction</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/8/icc-prosecutor-submits-second-batch-of-evidence-vs-duterte-case-1407">ICC prosecutor submits second batch of evidence vs Duterte</a></div><p>On Monday, 53-year-old Roland Agasa, one of the country&#x27;s 68 million registered voters, said the feud had taken a mental toll heading into election day.</p><p>&quot;The government is getting stressful,&quot; he said outside a Manila elementary school where the polling station was on the fourth and fifth floors.</p><p>&quot;I hope we choose the deserving, those who can help the country,&quot; Agasa said, adding he planned to wait until the day cooled before braving the stairs to cast his vote.</p><p>&quot;There was no pushing, but it was cramped. It was difficult, but we endured so that we could vote,&quot; Rizza Bacolod, 32, said at the same location.</p><p>Marcos cast his vote at an elementary school in his family&#x27;s traditional stronghold of Ilocos Norte province. His mother Imelda, 95, was at his side.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/5/11/marcos-jr-mom-imelda-cast-vote-in-ilocos-norte-0756">Marcos encounters ACM error while feeding ballot</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>NUMBERS GAME</strong></div><p>Sara Duterte, who cast her vote at a high school in her family&#x27;s southern bailiwick of Davao, will need nine votes in the 24-seat Senate to preserve any hope of a future presidential run.</p><p>Heading into Monday, seven of the candidates polling in the top 12 were endorsed by Marcos, while four were aligned with his vice president.</p><p>Two, including the president&#x27;s independent-minded sister Imee Marcos, were &quot;adopted&quot; as honorary members of the Duterte family&#x27;s PDP-Laban party on Saturday.</p><p>The move to add Marcos and television personality Camille Villar to the party&#x27;s slate was intended to add &quot;more allies to protect the Vice President against impeachment&quot;, according to the party resolution.</p><p>Despite his detention at The Hague, Rodrigo Duterte remains on the ballot in Davao city, where he is seeking to retake his former job as mayor.</p><div><iframe width="1250" height="703" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nhsW4jHDLiE" title="Halalan 2025: The ABS-CBN Special Marathon Coverage of the 2025 Philippine Elections" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>ELECTION VIOLENCE</strong></div><p>As polls opened Monday, two men were killed and seven wounded in the central Philippines when men fired on a group outside a local party headquarters from a moving vehicle.</p><p>The Philippines has a long history of election violence, with armed groups of political rivals routinely fighting over positions that control local government spending.</p><p>A day before, at least two people were killed in a clash between supporters of rival political camps in southern Mindanao island&#x27;s autonomous Muslim region, the Philippine army reported.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/5/12/4-patay-sa-barilan-sa-basilan-isang-araw-bago-ang-halalan-1353">4 patay sa barilan sa Basilan isang araw bago ang halalan</a></div><p>National police have been on alert for more than a week, and around 163,000 officers have been deployed to secure polling stations, escort election officials and guard checkpoints.</p><p>Comelec last week said it had recorded 81 acts of &quot;politically related&quot; violence between January 12 and May 7. Police told AFP that 16 of those had resulted in death.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2025/5/12/2-dead-5-wounded-in-silay-city-shooting-0937">2 dead, 7 wounded in Silay City shooting on election day</a></div>

<p>Millions of Filipinos braved long lines and soaring temperatures Monday to vote in a mid-term election seen as choosing sides in an explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte.</p>

Millions of Filipinos braved long lines and soaring temperatures Monday to vote in a mid-term election seen as choosing sides in an explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte.

Sweltering Philippines votes with Marcos-Duterte feud center stage

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Sweltering Philippines votes with Marcos-Duterte feud center stage

Agence France-Presse,

Cecil Morella

Published May 12, 2025 09:04 AM PHT

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Updated May 12, 2025 05:55 PM PHT

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