Duterte arrest hangs over Philippine midterm elections' final stretch

Persistence of support for ex-president may spell trouble for Marcos

20250505N Philippines election

A campaign poster in Davao City in March shows Duterte family candidates in the midterm election, including the former president. (Photo by Yuki Fujita)

YUKI FUJITA

MANILA -- With less than a week until the May 12 midterm elections in the Philippines, how voters respond to former President Rodrigo Duterte's arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant could tip the scales.

Since Duterte was arrested in mid-March on charges of murder as a crime against humanity over his crackdown on the country's drug trade, disinformation about the case has spread on social media -- especially Facebook, which is widely used in the Philippines.

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