Over 68 million Filipinos are headed to the polls on Monday, May 12, for midterm elections that will shape the direction of the country amid internal political turmoil and regional tensions.
Filipino voters will be using new vote-counting machines from South Korean company Miru Systems, replacing the Smartmatic units used in the past five national elections.
They will elect over 18,000 officials: 12 senators, 254 district representatives, 63 party list representatives, and 17,942 governors, vice governors, provincial board members, mayors, vice mayors and councilors.
The Commission on Elections and the country’s security agencies will also be monitoring 36 areas identified as having serious armed threats and other election-related security concerns.
The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is aiming to retain control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives after a falling out with former allies, the Dutertes.
The next Senate is expected to conduct hearings and vote on the administration-backed impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte. A two-thirds majority, or 16 of the 24 senators, will be needed to remove her.
The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte, now detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, has upended the elections, appearing to boost the electoral chances of his allies.
But as the campaign drew to a close, the election discourse shifted to the alleged pro-China stance of the former president’s candidates, raising concerns about the country’s interests in the West Philippine Sea, though this shift may not have been fully reflected in the latest surveys.
The next Congress can derail Marcos’ policy that swung back to the US, the country’s treaty ally, after Duterte’s pivot to China.
Across the country, political dynasties are fighting to win local elections amid intensified campaigns against their monopoly of power.
The Philippine Constitution bans political dynasties, but Congress has not enacted a law that will implement the provision. At least two petitions were filed with the Supreme Court recently to compel Congress to pass the measure.
In at least one province, Ilocos Sur, 23 members of the Singson political dynasty are running for various positions. A son of former governor Luis “Chavit” Singson is running for two posts.
These same political dynasties are expected to deliver votes for the senatorial candidates. In a tightly contested race, political clans could provide the margin of 100,000 votes or less that could spell electoral victory or defeat.
Many surveys indicate that the same political dynasties are likely to dominate the results, but reform advocates are closely watching areas where they could face setbacks.
However, the rising cost of elections remains a barrier to newcomers, according to election watchdogs. Data from Nielsen Ad Intel shows that this year’s top ad spender, Camille Villar, has aired traditional media ads worth P3.5 billion before discounts.
Local election watchdogs — such as the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASA) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines — are again closely monitoring the conduct of the elections.
International observers, including the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and the European Union Election Observation Mission, are also monitoring the elections, with the EU deploying a team to the Philippines for the first time. — PCIJ.org