Applicants aligned with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should sweep the elections in the Senate in May, according to a new public opinion investigation.
The survey, published yesterday by local social weather stations (SWS), shows that nine of the 12 senatorial candidates approved by Marcos, Jr. are among the 13 candidates with the most support before the elections of May 12. Two of the 13 are allies of the predecessor of the Philippin and Rival Amer, Rodrigo Duterte, and the other two are independent.
In accordance with the nationwide electoral process, SWS asked respondents to select their 12 most preferred candidates for the High Philippine Chamber. (Although there are only 12 seats in the Senate to win, the candidates 11, 12th and 13th classified were linked to the support they received from respondents to the investigation.)
Senate seats are among the most important messages to be won in mid-term elections on May 12, while about 70 million Philippins will vote to fill 18,280 positions across the country. In addition to the 12 positions in the Senate, this includes 317 seats in the congress, 82 governors and vice-governor, and thousands of management and legislative positions at the regional and municipal level.
The election of the Senate, which is disputed by 64 candidates, has shaped for months as a proxy battle between the Marcos and Duterte camps, whose relationship has deteriorated considerably in the last 18 months.
While the two clans trained together the “Uniteam” ticket which marked a landslide victory during the 2022 presidential election, catapulting Marcos in the presidential palace and Duterte’s daughter, Sara, in vice-president, they have since fallen on a toxic mixture of personal and political differences. In mid-2024, Vice-President Duterte resigned from Marcos’ firm and has since been surveyed by the House of Representatives for its abusive use of millions of dollars in public funds. In February, she was dismissed by the Chamber for this and a host of other alleged transgressions, including corruption and a threat supposed to assassinate the president.
Meanwhile, Duterte Sr. was arrested in Manila earlier this month and sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where he faces accusations of crimes against humanity linked to his extrajudicial “war against drugs”.
The SWS investigation, which was conducted during the same week that Duterte was arrested and extradited, indicates that the attempts by the family and his supporters to oppose the Marcos administration have failed to result in support for the solid mid -term elections – at least so far.
“Currently, he is sure to say that the Marcos administration and the coalition they built, which includes five major political parties, can gain wholesale in the May 2025 elections,” said Victor Andres C. Manhit, president of the Stratbase consultant, who commanded the STOPIS, in a statement. “Beyond the advantage of the charge, the president favored unity among the various political forces.”
All this is bad news for Sara Duterte, whose chances of surviving her trial on the dismissal of the Senate in June could depend on the results of the elections. If it is successfully welcomed – this requires a two -thirds vote – it would lose its position and would be prohibited to present itself to a political function for life. This would precipitate his plans reported to present himself to the presidency in 2028.
Admittedly, two key allies of Duterte are on the right track to be re -elected in the Senate, according to the results of the SWS survey. With the support of 42% of respondents, Bong Go, a former presidential assistant from Duterte who was active in the campaign for his release from the ICC, equally in first place with another candidate. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, a former chief of the national police who led the first phase of Duterte’s “war against drugs” and could soon be the subject of his own ICC arrest warrant, received 30% support.
However, this survey seems to suggest that the political war between the Marcoses and Dutertes is on the right track to end with a decisive victory for the president.