Millions of people voted in the elections in the Philippines on Monday.

In this picture from the Presidential Communications Office, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is in the middle. He shows the special ink on his finger after voting at a place in Batac City, Philippines, on Monday, May 12, 2025.

A man is casting his vote at a polling station in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken on Monday, May 12, 2025.

In Quezon City, Philippines, voters went to a polling station to cast their votes on Monday, May 12, 2025.

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte talks to the media and moves her hand after voting in Davao City on Monday, May 12, 2025.

In this picture from Team Pacquiao, the Filipino boxer and former senator Manny Pacquiao shows the ink on his finger after he voted in Kiamba, southern Philippines, on Monday, May 12, 2025.

The author of this article is Teresa Cerojano.

Even though he is in The Hague, Rodrigo Duterte, who was the President of the Philippines, was one of the people trying to win one of about 18,000 jobs in the government and local areas in the elections on Monday. People who study politics think these elections will show if he and his family will stay in power.

Duterte has been held by the International Criminal Court since March. He is waiting for a trial. He is accused of crimes against humanity. This is because of a strong fight against illegal drugs when he was president from 2016 to 2022. Many people died in this fight. But he is still trying to become mayor of Davao city in the south.

In the Philippines, people who are accused of crimes can still try to get elected for a job in the government. They can do this even if they are in prison. But they cannot do this if a court has said they are guilty and they cannot ask a higher court to look at their case again.

Many people think Duterte will win the election to be mayor of Davao. He was the mayor for more than 20 years before he became president. But it is not clear how he can be mayor if he is in prison.

More than 68 million Filipinos signed up to vote on Monday. They voted for people to be in the government. They chose half of the people in the Senate, everyone in the House of Representatives, and many people for jobs in local areas like provinces, cities, and towns.

Voting stopped at 7 in the evening in each place, but people still waiting could vote. People working on the election said we might know who won in a few hours, but the final results would come in about a week.

Many people are watching the election for the Senate. This election is important because it could decide the future of Vice President Sara Duterte. She is the daughter of the former President Duterte. In July, she will have a trial in the Senate. People say she planned to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and used money from her office in a bad way. But she says these things are not true. She says her political enemies are saying these things to hurt her.

Some people think Sara Duterte might be president in 2028. But if the Senate says she did something wrong, she will stop being vice president. She also cannot have a job in the government. To not be found guilty, at least nine of the 24 senators need to vote for her.

Maria Ela Atienza, a professor who teaches about politics at the University of the Philippines, said the 2025 elections are very important. She said the results will show what happens next and which group will be strong in the 2028 elections.

If Sara Duterte is found guilty in the impeachment trial, it could suggest that the Duterte family's time holding important positions in the country might be ending, she said. Other family members are also participating in the election. Her brother, Sebastian, who is currently the mayor of Davao, is running for vice mayor and is generally expected to win. Her older brother, Paolo, is seeking reelection as a member of the House of Representatives. Additionally, two of her nephews are competing in local elections.

Rodrigo Duterte was impeached and arrested. This happened because Marcos and Sara Duterte had different ideas about politics and wanted different things.

On Monday, Sara Duterte voted in Davao. Marcos voted in his hometown in the north, Batac City.

After she voted, she told reporters she would accept the result if her candidates did not win.

She talked about her father winning. She said, "He will not be here. We think the vice mayor (Sebastian) will be the acting mayor."

Marcos made a video before the election and asked people in the Philippines to vote and say what they think.

Her father's religious advisor and political supporter, Apollo Quiboloy, wants to be a senator. But he is in prison because people say he did bad things like sexual abuse and human trafficking. The police in the U.S. also want to find him for the same reasons.

There was some violence during the voting. In one city, two people died and seven were hurt in a shooting. In another place, people who supported different candidates for mayor had a gunfight, and two people died and two were hurt. In a third place, seven people were killed in shootings that might have been about the election. Other people were also hurt in shootings in other parts of the country.

Fights between people who liked different candidates made voting slow in some places. In Manila, some people who wanted to vote said their names were not on the list where they should vote. Other people were unhappy about waiting for a long time in the very hot weather.

Reymark Marquez, who votes, said the Marcos-Duterte team that won in 2022 did not do what they promised. He said the next elections are not only about Duterte and Marcos, but about picking the right leaders.

She hopes the new leaders will be honest and good for her baby's future.