Senate candidates backed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr are steaming ahead before May’s midterm elections, but analysts say their advantage may slip as budget cuts – alongside former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest by the International Criminal Court – stoke public anger.
In the 2025 national budget, the Philippine government reduced allocations for key sectors: education by 11.6 billion Philippine pesos (US$202 million), health by 25.8 billion pesos, and agriculture by a massive 43.2 billion pesos.