* Early tally suggests Duterte to boost mandate
* Opposition expected to struggle
* Senate traditionally vital check on state power
* Official results expected in 4-6 days
(Recasts after voting closes, adds comments, details)
By Martin Petty
MANILA, May 13 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte's allies held the top spots as unofficial results of a
mid-term Senate election trickled in on Monday, signalling broad
public backing for the maverick leader.
Early results suggested Duterte-backed candidates would take
most of the 12 Senate seats available, with just one from the
opposition slate on the fringes.
A Senate majority would lessen the chance of censure moves
and lower house probes against Duterte's government and make it
easier to pass controversial legislation, such as restoring
capital punishment and changing the constitution to introduce
federalism, and possibly extend term limits.
The ballot was billed as a referendum on the mercurial
president, with the focus on his bid to boost his influence over
an upper house vital to him delivering on his reform agenda.
The Senate is just as crucial to his opponents,
traditionally a check on state power and a bulwark against the
kind of political dominance that Duterte is demonstrating.
Overall, the massive nationwide ballot will decide 18,000
posts, among them more than 200 mayors and governors, half of
the 24-seat Senate, and 245 spots in a lower house expected to
again be stacked with Duterte loyalists.
However, late into the night, hours after voting ended, only
a small fraction of the tally was available due to problems
transmitting results. Official results are expected in four to
six days.
The midterms come at a time when the 74-year-old former
mayor is seemingly untouchable, with last year's spiralling
inflation now under control and recent polls showing his Senate
candidates scoring highly, and his own public approval rating at
a staggering 81 percent.
"It's not the right environment for the opposition. The
opposition could have targeted other candidates instead of
making the campaign against President Duterte," said political
analyst Dindo Manhit.
"That's a hard battle. That would've been challenging."
Police reported several minor shootings and bombings in
notoriously hostile areas on poll day, and said vote-buying was
massive, with more than 200 arrests.
Technology was a problem, with hundreds of instances of
electronic voting machines malfunctioning and trouble with the
election commission's internet servers.
His popularity has helped to insulate him from criticism
over his deadly war on drugs, his misogynistic jokes and insults
at the church, and his indifference towards China's rapid
militarisation in the South China Sea.
Duterte looks set to consolidate power further in the latter
half of his presidency having recruited for his candidates a
potent surrogate in his daughter and Davao City mayor, Sara
Duterte, in what is being seen as a succession play for the 2022
presidential election. "The president is not on the ballot, neither is mayor Sara.
That was a wise move on the part of father and daughter, they
were willing to use their brand," political strategist Malou
Tiquia told CNN Philippines.
(Editing by Michael Perry and Alison Williams)