
Polls close in pivotal Philippine midterms
All eyes are on the Senate races as the chamber is set to hold an impeachment trial against Duterte.
Voters cast ballots at both national and local levels halfway through the president's six-year term.
Up for grabs were half the 24 Senate seats, all seats in the House of Representatives and posts in provinces, cities and municipalities.
Duterte was Marcos's running mate in the 2022 presidential election. But they're now embroiled in a bitter feud.
One issue is the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
Marcos initially pledged not to help the court. But he backtracked, enraging the vice president.
Sara Duterte backed her father's close aides as Senate candidates. But they struggled to win support during the campaign, especially those with a pro-China bent.
The administration of Duterte senior worked to strengthen ties with Beijing, shelving territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The Marcos administration has sided with the US, giving American forces greater access to Philippine bases.
Sara Duterte was impeached by the Lower House in February. Senators will try her as early as July. She faces charges including misuse of public funds. If she's convicted, she won't be able to run in the 2028 presidential election.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan's foreign minister urges Myanmar to restore democracy
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya has urged Myanmar to restore democracy, after the Southeast Asian country lifted the state of emergency imposed when its military staged a coup in 2021. Japan strongly urges Myanmar's military to "swiftly restore the country's democratic political system," Iwaya told a news conference Friday. According to Myanmar's Constitution, a general election is to be held within six months after a state of emergency is lifted. "Japan is seriously concerned that if general elections are held without any moves toward political progress, it could provoke a strong backlash from the people of Myanmar," he said. Iwaya called for an immediate halt to violence and the release of political detainees, including democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Japan strongly hopes that a ceasefire throughout Myanmar and its credible implementation will be achieved and that all parties will make sincere efforts toward a peaceful resolution," he added.


Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Myanmar junta ends 4½-year state of emergency in election run-up
Myanmar's junta ended its state of emergency on Thursday after 4½ years, ramping up plans for a December election that opposition groups pledged to boycott and monitors said will be used to consolidate the military's power. The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a multi-sided civil war that has claimed thousands of lives. The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and judiciary — but he has recently touted elections as an off-ramp to the conflict. Opposition groups including ex-lawmakers ousted in the coup have pledged to snub the poll, which a U.N. expert last month dismissed as "a fraud" designed to legitimize the military's continuing rule. The junta seized power making unsubstantiated claims of fraud in a 2020 election that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won in a landslide. She remains jailed alongside their other top leaders. "The state of emergency is abolished today in order for the country to hold elections on the path to a multi-party democracy," junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in a voice message shared with reporters. "Elections will be held within six months," he added. An order signed by Min Aung Hlaing cancelled the emergency rule that handed power to him as the armed forces chief, returning it to the head of state. However, he also occupies that office as the country's acting president. "We have already passed the first chapter," Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in Naypyidaw reported in state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on Thursday. "Now, we are starting the second chapter," he told members of the junta's administration council at what the newspaper called an "honorary ceremony" for its members. No date set Analysts predict that following the election Min Aung Hlaing will keep a role as either president or armed forces chief and consolidate power in that office, thereby extending his tenure as de facto ruler. A flurry of notices announced a new "Union Government" had been formed alongside a "National Security and Peace Commission" to oversee defense and the election process, both led by him. "The upcoming election will be held this December, and efforts will be made to enable all eligible voters to cast their ballots," The Global New Light of Myanmar reported, paraphrasing another part of his speech. A foreign ministry spokesman of junta ally China said Beijing supports "Myanmar's various parties and factions properly resolving differences through political means under the constitutional and legal framework." No exact date for the poll has been announced by the junta, but political parties are being registered while training sessions on electronic voting machines have already taken place. The military government said Wednesday it enacted a new law dictating prison sentences of up to 10 years for speeches or protests aiming to "destroy a part of the electoral process." A census held last year as preparation for the election estimated it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country's 51 million people, provisional results said. The results cited "significant security constraints" as one reason for the shortfall — giving a sign of how limited the reach of the election may be amid the civil war. Analysts have predicted rebels will stage offensives around the election as a sign of their opposition. But this month, the junta began offering cash rewards to those willing to lay down their arms and "return to the legal fold" ahead of the vote.

Japan Times
2 days ago
- Japan Times
Cambodia's Hun Sen at the helm in border conflict with Thailand
When weeks of tensions escalated into a major border conflict with Thailand last week, former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen appeared to take charge of his country's response. Photographs showed him at the end of a long table, speaking with military officers and poring over detailed maps, radio set in hand and a cup of Starbucks coffee within arms reach. The former guerrilla fighter is no longer Cambodia's leader, having passed on the premiership to his eldest son in 2023 after nearly four decades in power, and has taken over as the president of the Southeast Asian nation's Senate. But Hun Sen played an outsized role in events leading up to the deadliest fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in over a decade and — according to three diplomatic sources — showed his continuing influence during the five-day conflict. On Friday, after artillery fired from Cambodia landed in civilian areas in Thailand's border provinces, the Thai army took direct aim at him. "Based on available evidence, it is believed that the Cambodian government, led by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, is behind these appalling attacks," it said in a statement, using honorifics for the veteran politician. Within hours of the clashes breaking out, Hun Sen, 72, was sharing a flurry of posts on Facebook, his favoured social media platform, to rally his people and criticize Thailand. In one photograph he posted, Hun Sen is seen in a video conference call with a dozen people, including several soldiers. In another post, he shared a photo of himself in combat fatigues. "On the border clashes, what strikes me is the extent to which he goes to create the optics of being in charge — wearing the uniform, being seen as directing the troop movements, intervening on Facebook," said a Cambodia-based diplomat. Like all the other diplomats interviewed for this story, he asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Lim Menghour, a Cambodia government official working on foreign policy, said Hun Sen acted as the main logistics commander for troops on the frontline. "He has always monitored and kept observing the situation all the time," he said. Foreign military attaches from major powers and ASEAN member countries, along with diplomats from 13 countries, inspect the closed An Ses border checkpoint, also known as Chong Arn Ma in Thai, on Wednesday. | Reuters In contrast to his father, Cambodia's incumbent premier Hun Manet, a four-star general and graduate of the West Point military academy in the United States, remained more muted on social media in the early days of the conflict, changing tack as he readied to travel to Malaysia for negotiations that yielded a ceasefire. Chhay Sophal, a Phnom Penh-based author of books on Hun Sen and his family, said the former premier can direct the government in his capacity as the president of the ruling Cambodian People's Party. "So, the prime minister must respect and follow the party's policy and president," he said. A Cambodia government spokesman did not respond to questions. Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over undemarcated sections of their 817 km (508 miles) land border, which has also led to fighting in the past. The recent tensions began rising in May, following the killing of a Cambodian soldier during a skirmish, and have steadily escalated since — a situation that Thai premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra sought to diffuse when she spoke directly with Hun Sen on June 15. A partial recording of the call was initially leaked, where Paetongtarn, 38, can be heard criticising a Thai general and kowtowing to Hun Sen, who later released the full audio of their conversation, triggering a political crisis in Thailand. In a rambling three-hour televised speech in late June, Hun Sen openly rebuked Paetongtarn for her handling of the border row and attacked her father, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, long seen as his ally. "At least before the flare-up, he was very much right there in your face," said a regional diplomat who closely tracks Cambodia. "I mean, he was the one who was mostly visible, who was making all the pronouncements." Hun Sen is a wily survivor of Cambodian politics and the wider tumult across Southeast Asia over the last half-a-century. Born to rice farmers in a province heavily bombed during the secret U.S. war in Cambodia and Laos, he became a soldier for the Khmer Rouge, whose murderous regime from 1975 to 1979 killed about a quarter of the population. But he defected to Vietnam in 1977 and, when they overthrew the Khmer Rouge, Hun Sen returned as foreign minister and then rose to become prime minister. The self-styled strongman presided over an economic boom in Cambodia, with per capita income almost quadrupling from $240 to $1,000 in the decade from 1993 to 2013. But much of the newfound wealth came to be concentrated in the hands of the country's ruling elite, even as political rivals were jailed or exiled, critical media outlets shuttered and civil dissent crushed, paving the way for Hun Manet to take over. In recent months, even domestic administrative policy decisions were being brought to Hun Sen for approval, according to the regional diplomat who interacts with Cambodian officials. Now, the border conflict has made his clout more apparent, and there has been an outpouring of support for the government on social media amid a wave of nationalism. "It hasn't surprised anyone that he's taken the lead which tells you everyone knew he was in charge," another Cambodia-based diplomat said. "If the goal is to strengthen nationalism, he has succeeded."