Duterte’s explosive ‘kill senators’ quip ignites controversy in Philippine midterms
Former president Rodrigo Duterte jokes that the candidates backed by him can win the May elections by way of “a bomb” aimed at their rivals
At a rally of Duterte’s PDP-Laban Party on Thursday, Duterte introduced his nine candidates, and joked that one possible way for them to win the elections would be “to kill 15 senators” including those running for reelection in Marcos Jnr’s slate.
Speaking at the rally, the candidates vowed to “protect Sara” from being convicted in a Senate court, referring to a looming impeachment trial of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, the senior Duterte’s daughter.
Duterte-Carpio’s political woes continued to mount on Wednesday after the National Bureau of Investigation filed charges against her for inciting sedition and committing grave threats over an alleged assassination plot targeting the president.
In the coming elections, 12 of the 24 Senate positions will become vacant. Should anything happen to any of the other 12 sitting senators – whose terms end in 2028 – before voting commences on May 12, the vacancies could be filled up at the same elections. Such a scenario using automated counting machines has never happened.
Duterte speculated about such a scenario involving the latter group of senators, saying “the only way to do it is to explode a bomb”.