Duterte's administration faces midterm elections on May 13, where support for divisive policies -- such as his long-waged anti-drug war -- will be put to the test.

A verdict on Duterte: looming midterms are a referendum on president

Some Senate hopefuls attack popular leader's deadly drug war

DOMINIC FAULDER, Associate editor, Nikkei Asian Review, and MIKHAIL FLORES and CLIFF VENZON, Nikkei staff writers

February 27, 2019 15:50 JST

MANILA -- It was an unconventional start to a long-shot campaign.

The seven prospective senators declared their candidacies from the mezzanine of an overcrowded cafe in Caloocan, a city in northern Metro Manila that has become ground zero in the Philippines' deadly war against drugs.