Rodrigo Duterte, the firebrand former president of the Philippines, has made political history – not once, but twice. First, as the only ex-Philippine leader to face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC). And now, as the first to win a mayoral race while imprisoned abroad, securing an extraordinary landslide victory from a detention cell in The Hague.
The post he won is no ordinary local office. It is the mayorship of Davao City, the southern Philippine metropolis that has long served as the Duterte family’s political stronghold – a position he held for more than two decades before ascending to the presidency in 2016.
But despite his electoral triumph, Duterte’s return to Davao’s city hall remains far from certain.
His victory in May’s midterm election has triggered a surreal legal and diplomatic conundrum in the Philippines: can a man imprisoned in an international detention facility legally assume the office of mayor?
A legal impossibility?
The answer to the quandary, according to legal experts, is almost certainly no.
