Former Philippines president wins mayoral election from jail

Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has won a mayoral election in the city of Davao, while he is in prison at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

International media outlets have confirmed he won with more than eight times the vote of his nearest competitor.

Duterte served as mayor of Davao for 22 years before he was elected president in 2016.

He is accused of crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, and “enforced disappearance”.

Arrest

As both mayor and president, Duterte ran a wide-reaching anti-drug campaign. Soon after becoming president, he told Filipinos to “go ahead and kill” people addicted to drugs.

Under his presidency, police allegedly carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings (outside the court system).

In March, Duterte was arrested in Manila by Filipino authorities on behalf of ICC for “the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape.”

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The ICC is a UN body tasked with investigating crimes against humanity with the power to issue arrest warrants and compel people to appear before a tribunal at the Hague, in the Netherlands.

Duterte was arrested after a panel of judges found “reasonable grounds” to believe he was indirectly responsible for murders carried out between 2011 and 2019.

It found there was an “attack directed against a civilian population” while Duterte was in power, which “was both widespread and systematic: the alleged attack… resulted in thousands of deaths.”

Election

Despite his arrest, Duterte has remained largely popular. According to the BBC, he has received more than 500,000 votes, significantly higher than his nearest competitor, with over 60% of returns in.

He will continue to be eligible to run for office until he is convicted of a crime.

In the Philippines, candidates can run for office unless they have been convicted of a crime and failed to appeal.

Duterte’s youngest son Sebastian was elected vice-mayor.