Six weeks ago, a van piled high with flowers pulled up at the International Criminal Court’s detention center in The Hague. The court also received deliveries of birthday cards. Lots and lots of them.
They were all for the newest inmate, Rodrigo Duterte, a former president of the Philippines, who turned 80 on March 28. The tributes were evidence of his enduring popularity there, though he is accused of crimes against humanity for ordering a brutal antidrug campaign in which tens of thousands of people died.
“The place was inundated with flowers, and I brought some of the mail out because they didn’t know what to do with it,” Nicholas Kaufman, Mr. Duterte’s lawyer, said in a telephone interview. He said he had left with three sacks of mail for Mr. Duterte that the court was unable to vet. In the Philippines, thousands of people dressed in the green associated with Mr. Duterte’s political party flooded the streets of Davao City.
With Filipinos voting in midterm elections on Monday, Mr. Duterte appeared certain to win another term as mayor of Davao City, by a landslide, according to an unofficial tally of partial results, though if convicted he could spend the rest of his life in prison. He was the city’s mayor for 22 years, in three separate stretches, before assuming the presidency.
By 11:30 p.m., preliminary returns with 76 percent of the vote counted showed Mr. Duterte capturing 63.3 percent of the vote, far ahead of his closest rival, Karlo Nograles, at 7.8 percent. Election officials will not formally announce the winners of the races until Tuesday.
Mr. Duterte’s sudden arrest and extradition to The Hague in March has divided the Philippines. While some polls show that a majority of Filipinos back the investigation, many of Mr. Duterte’s supporters believe that he is a victim of political persecution by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., once an ally of the Duterte clan.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
