Residents cast their votes in Philippine national and midterm elections on May 13, 2019, in Malabang, Lanao del Sur, in the southern Philippines. Rodrigo "The Punisher" Duterte will continue full steam ahead after voters largely backed the president's allies in May 13 elections.
From the start, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sought to be a game changer. The first president from the remote southern region of Mindanao, he swept to victory in 2016 elections by advocating a ruthless approach to crime, promising to spread economic development to far-flung regions and vowing to end chronic insurgencies . But since coming to power, Duterte has also experienced some setbacks. A 153-day Islamic State takeover jeopardized Duterte's peace efforts in Muslim Mindanao and forced him to turn to the United States — which he had moved away from in making pragmatic overtures to China to fuel investment and calm maritime tensions — for support. In fact, those very overtures to Beijing have also incited stiff (albeit intermittent) domestic criticism , compounded by the slow pace of Chinese investmen t in the Philippines.
