Philippines’ detained ex-president Duterte wins Davao mayor race while in ICC custody
Under Philippine law, candidates facing criminal charges, including those in detention, can run for office unless they have been convicted and have exhausted all appeals
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, detained at the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, regained the mayorship of family stronghold Davao city in a landslide vote on Monday, an initial tally showed.
With over 60 per cent of returns in, Duterte had built an insurmountable lead of 405,000 votes to 49,000 for his nearest competitor, results from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) released by local media showed.
But what role, if any, Duterte will play in governing the city of nearly 1.8 million from his cell in the Netherlands is unclear.
His daughter, impeached vice-president Sara Duterte, told reporters after casting her vote earlier in the day that plans were already under way to ensure he would officially become mayor.
“His ICC lawyers and his Filipino lawyers are discussing how to have him take his oath of office as winner of the mayoral contest here in Davao city,” she said, noting they had until June 30.
Duterte, 80, was arrested at Manila’s international airport on March 11 and flown to The Hague the same day to face charges tied to his crackdown on drugs that killed thousands of mostly poor men.
His communication since has come sporadically and through surrogates, mainly Sara.
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Will Duterte become Asia’s first ex-leader convicted by the International Criminal Court?