The final and official tally of votes showed nine Duterte-backed candidates won a seat at the upper house. Members of the Philippine Senate, who serve six-year terms, had been known for being more independent-minded than their colleagues at the House of Representatives. Duterte has put forward plans to revamp the country’s tax system to help fund his ambitious infrastructure program, and rewrite the Constitution to clear the way to a switch to a federal form of government, among others. Duterte’s policy agenda, however, would need lawmaker’s backing, a difficult-to-meet requirement that had crippled his predecessors’ attempts to push for some of their key reforms. “The strong show of support for Duterte will both give him the confidence and ability to push ahead with his reform programme,” they added.

Source: Philippine Star May 22, 2019 02:35 UTC