MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines's former President Rodrigo Duterte registered Monday to run for mayor of his southern home city despite his notorious legacy over his brutal anti-drugs crackdown that the International Criminal Court is investigating as a possible crime against humanity.
Duterte, 79, filed his papers before the Election Commission in Davao city, where he had served as mayor for about two decades before winning the presidency in 2016. His son — incumbent Davao city Mayor Sebastian Duterte — would run as his vice-mayor in next year’s mid-term elections, officials said.
More than 6,000 people, mostly poor drug suspects, were killed under a massive police-enforced crackdown against illegal drugs that Duterte oversaw when he was president, according to government pronouncements. But human rights groups say the death toll is considerably higher and should include many unsolved killings by motorcycle-riding gunmen, who may have been deployed by police.
Duterte has denied condoning extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, although he has openly threatened suspects with death and has ordered police to shoot suspects who dangerously resist arrest.
Despite his administration’s massive crackdown against illegal drugs, Duterte acknowledged that drugs remained a major problem. During his presidential campaign, he vowed to eradicate the drug problem in three to six months but said after winning the presidency that he underestimated the enormity of the problem.
Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019, in a move critics said was an attempt to evade accountability. The ICC prosecutor said the court still has jurisdiction over alleged crimes, while the Philippines was still a member of the court.
When Duterte’s turbulent presidential term ended in 2022, he said he would retire from politics, but he has walked back on his public pronouncements multiple times.
His daughter, current Vice President Sara Duterte, said in June that her father and two brothers were planning to run for seats in the 24-member Senate. But the former president told reporters in Davao city on Saturday that his frail health could not withstand the rigors of a campaign for any national position.
Duterte has remained popular after stepping down from the presidency, but human rights groups and his political opponents would likely campaign hard to block his return to politics. He and his family have also been at odds with his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whom he has publicly reviled as a weak leader and a drug addict.
Marcos has laughed off Duterte’s allegations and shot back at Duterte as a user of fentanyl, a powerful opioid.
Sara Duterte resigned from her posts of education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body under the Marcos administration in July. It was the latest sign her alliance with Marcos has floundered over key differences, including the Marcos administration’s high-profile pushback against China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea.
Marcos has strengthened his country’s treaty alliance with the U.S. as his country’s territorial disputes with China flared alarmingly since last year.
During his presidency, Duterte nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin while lambasting the security policies of the United States and other Western governments.
FILE -Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte listens to a question from reporters at Manila's International Airport, Philippines on, Nov. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Milton strengthened into a major hurricane Monday on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a storm surge as high as 12 feet in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.
Milton grew into a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph) over the southern Gulf of Mexico. Storm surge and hurricane watches were issued for Florida's Gulf Coast, and a hurricane warning was issued for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
Forecast models vary widely, but the most likely path would have Milton making landfall Wednesday in the Tampa Bay area and remaining a hurricane as it moves across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean.
That would largely spare other southeastern states ravaged by Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from northern Florida to the Appalachian Mountains and killed at least 230 people.
Milton's center was about 165 miles (265 kilometers) west-northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and about 745 miles (1,195 kilometers) west-southwest of Tampa early Monday, moving east-southeast at 8 mph (13 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Milton is a bit atypical since it formed so far west and is expected to cross the entire southern Gulf, according to Daniel Brown, a hurricane specialist at the center.
“It’s not uncommon to get a hurricane threat in October along the west coast of Florida, but forming all the way in the southwest Gulf and then striking Florida is a little bit more unusual,” Brown said. Most storms that form in October and hit Florida come from the Caribbean, not the southwestern Gulf, he said.
A hurricane warning was in effect for Mexico from Celestun to Rio Lagartos. A hurricane watch was in effect for Mexico from Rio Lagartos to Cabo Catoche and Campeche to south of Celestun, and for Florida's Gulf Coast from Chokoloskee to the mouth of the Suwanee River, including Tampa Bay, and for Dry Tortugas.
Forecasters warned of an 8- to 12-foot storm surge (2.4 to 3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay. A storm surge watch was in effect for Florida's Gulf Coast from Flamingo northward to the mouth of the Suwannee River, including Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. A tropical storm warning was issued in Mexico from Rio Lagartos to Cancun and from Campeche to south of Celestun.
A tropical storm watch was in effect for Florida's Gulf coast from Flamingo to south of Chokoloskee and from north of the mouth of the Suwanee River to Indian Pass, and for the Florida Keys, including Florida Bay.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that while it remains to be seen where Milton will strike, it’s clear the state is going to be hit hard.
“You have time to prepare — all day today, all day Monday, probably all day Tuesday to be sure your hurricane preparedness plan is in place,” DeSantis said. “If you’re on that west coast of Florida, barrier islands, just assume you’ll be asked to leave.”
About 7 million people were urged to evacuate Florida in 2017 as Hurricane Irma bore down. The exodus jammed freeways, led to long lines at gas stations and left evacuees in some cases vowing never to evacuate again.
Building on lessons learned during Irma and other previous storms, Florida is staging emergency fuel for gas vehicles and charging stations for electric vehicles along evacuation routes, Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Sunday.
“We are preparing ... for the largest evacuation that we have seen, most likely since 2017, Hurricane Irma,” Guthrie said.
The Tampa Bay area is still cleaning up extensive damage from Helene and its powerful surge. Twelve people perished as Helene swamped the coast, with the worst damage along the narrow, 20-mile (32-kilometer) string of barrier islands that stretch from St. Petersburg to Clearwater.
DeSantis expanded his state of emergency declaration Sunday to 51 counties and said Floridians should prepare for more power outages and disruption, making sure they have a week’s worth of food and water and are ready to hit the road.
People who live in homes built after Florida strengthened codes in 2004, who don’t depend on constant electricity and who aren’t in evacuation zones should probably avoid the roads, Guthrie said.
All classes and school activities in Pinellas County, home to St. Petersburg, closed preemptively Monday through Wednesday. Officials in Tampa freed all city garages to residents hoping to protect their cars from flooding, including electric vehicles. The vehicles must be left on the third floor or higher in each garage.
As many as 4,000 National Guard troops are helping state crews to remove debris, DeSantis said, and he directed Florida crews dispatched to North Carolina in Helene’s aftermath to return in preparation for Milton.
When Milton achieved hurricane status, it marked the first time there have been three hurricanes swirling simultaneously in the Atlantic, said Colorado State University hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach. Hurricanes Leslie and Kirk were far out at sea and not immediately threatening land.
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration taken at 11:36pm ET on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, shows Hurricane Milton. (NOAA via AP)
