Marcos v Duterte: Dynasties clash in battle for Senate control

Midterm polls outcome could decide future of coalition, shape 2028 presidential race

- Mara Cepeda

MANILA - The Philippines' ruling alliance is at war with itself in the final days of the midterm election season.

Once staunch allies, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Vice President Sara Duterte are now locked in their fiercest political clash yet, as these scions of the country's two most powerful dynasties battle for dominance over the Senate.

The outcome could not only decide the future of their fractured coalition, but also shape the race for the presidency in 2028.

On May 12, Filipinos will head to the polls to elect more than 18,000 officials nationwide in the midterms held every three years. Their picks will fill half of the 24-seat Senate, all 316 seats in the House of Representatives, and thousands of local posts - from mayors to governors and their deputies in every province, city and town.

But national attention is fixed on the Senate race, where the stakes are highest. The Marcos and Duterte factions are vying not just for legislative control but for political supremacy.

The results will serve as a referendum on Mr Marcos' presidency.

Can he secure a Senate that will help him push his agenda in his final three years? Or will Ms Duterte — daughter of 80-year-old former president Rodrigo Duterte, now under trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity during the brutal drug war that defined his time in power — emerge from the midterms with enough allies to fend off an impeachment trial in July and strengthen her prospects for a presidential run in 2028?

When campaigning for the polls kicked off in February, analysts observed that Mr Marcos positioned the Senate race as a chance to sideline Duterte loyalists and cement his status as the ruling coalition's undisputed kingmaker.