Thanks for joining us on what's turned out to be a surprising midterm election day. It's approaching midnight in the Philippines, and while unofficial partial vote counts are still trickling in, we're closing our live page for now.

The winners and losers from these elections will be much clearer tomorrow morning.

This page was edited by Gavin Butler, Tessa Wong and Ayeshea Perera, with reporting from Joel Guinto, Fan Wang and Koh Ewe in Singapore, James Chater in Sydney, and Jonathan Head and Virma Simonette in Manila.

Francisco "Isko" Moreno Domagoso has reclaimed Manila’s top post, a position he previously held from 2019 to 2022, according to local media reports.

An actor, host, and entrepreneur, Moreno received over 547,000 votes out of the 78.55% counted as of 10:37 p.m. local time. His closest rival, former ally Honey Lacuna, garnered fewer than 196,000 votes.

Moreno campaigned on the promise to "make Manila great again", while highlighting achievements from his first term - during which, he claimed, no one went hungry under his leadership.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Former vice-president Leni Robredo is poised to win the mayoralty of Naga city in the central Philippines by a landslide, according to a partial unofficial count.

The grassroots lawyer is returning to local politics after her 2022 defeat by President Bongbong Marcos.

Her former running mate, Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, and former campaign manager, Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino, are also on course to win big in the senate race, surprising pollsters who placed them outside the winning circle of 12.

Surveys have consistently predicted that Duterte's most loyal aides, re-electionist senators Christopher "Bong" Go and Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, would rank high. They are in first and third place respectively, based on a partial, unofficial tally of 68% of votes.

But the big surprises tonight are Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan, in second and fifth place respectively. They were not high on the radar of pre-election surveys.

This complicates President Bongbong Marcos' hopes for control of the senate.

Only one of his candidates made the top five in the unofficial count: broadcaster Erwin Tulfo.

The rest of the top 12 has four more Marcos allies, two Duterte candidates, including his sister Imee, and Camille Villar, who is listed on both the Marcos and Duterte slates. But that could change as more votes are counted.

Image source, EPA

Manny Pacquiao's senate comeback appears to be in peril, based on a partial unofficial count.

He is ranked 18th based on 58% of votes. Twelve senate seats are at stake.

The world boxing champion ran for president in 2022 but lost to the incumbent, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Image source, reut

Former president Rodrigo Duterte is winning in the mayoralty race in Davao City, despite being detained at the ICC in The Hague for his bloody drug war that killed thousands.

A partial and unofficial count of 62% of votes showed the Duterte patriarch with half a million votes, against 60,000 for his closest rival.

The count is roughly the same in the vice mayoralty race, in favour of his son, Sebastian Duterte.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

As predicted by numerous opinion polls, Duterte's longtime aide, Christopher "Bong" Go, is leading the senatorial race with 16 million votes - based on a partial and unofficial tally of 58.89% of votes.

Go's re-election would mean he would serve for another six years, until 2031.

Image source, Getty Images

No one saw it coming based on the surveys, but Bam Aquino is holding on to the second spot while Francis Pangilinan is at fifth.

They are from neither the Duterte nor Marcos camps - they are candidates of Leni Robredo, the reformist who placed second to Bongbong Marcos in the 2022 presidential election.

Bam Aquino was Robredo's campaign manager, while Pangilinan was her vice-president.

Here are some more early results, based on 49.73% of votes which were revealed at 20:44 local time:

11. Imee Marcos (endorsed by Sara Duterte) has 8.49 million votes

12. Lito Lapid (Marcos' Alyansa) has 8.47 million votes

13. Ben Tulfo (independent) has 7.85 million votes

14. Bong Revilla (Marcos' Alyansa) has 7.58 million votes

15. Abby Binay (Marcos' Alyansa) has 7.56 million votes

In sixth place is former senator Panfilo Lacson, followed by Tito Sotto. Both are from Marcos's camp.

Lawyer Rodante Marcoleta from the Duterte ticket is at eighth.

Pia Cayetano from the Marcos camp is at ninth, followed by Camille Villar, a Marcos ticket member who was recently endorsed by Sara Duterte.

Again, this is based on just 49.73% of election returns. The partial and unofficial count continues.

Here's how things are looking based on 49.73% of election returns, which were revealed at 20:44 local time:

Duterte's former aide Christopher "Bong" Go is leading the partial unofficial count with 16 million votes.

A surprise second-placer is Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino, with close to 14 million votes.

Duterte's former national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa is at third, followed by a Marcos bet in broadcaster Erwin Tulfo.

In surprise fifth place is Francis Pangilinan. Both Pangilinan Aquino are affiliated with Marcos's 2022 rival, Leni Robredo.

Neither figured this high in pre-polling surveys.

Stay with us as we bring you updates on where things stand.

It's 20:42 in Manila (12:42 GMT). During the last five elections, partial and unofficial results had come in by this time, giving some idea of who was leading in the races.

That has not happened so far tonight.

The Commission on Elections says it has received as much as 60% of votes or election returns from the field - but as yet no details have been disclosed as to where those votes have landed.

We will bring you updates as they are available.

Image source, Getty Images

While polls officially closed at 7pm, voters who were within 30 metres of polling precincts by that time were still allowed to cast their ballots.

George Garcia, chairperson of the Commission on Elections, said there may be areas where voting hours are extended due to delays in the start of the voting process.

He specifically referred to an incident in Datu Odin Sinsuat earlier today, where voting started later than expected after supporters of rival political camps blocked the delivery of election materials.

He also noted that in some areas voting hours may be extended until tomorrow, according to local media.

The Commission on Elections has received close to 50% of all election returns, according to its website.

But partial results per candidate are not available yet.

Election returns are raw results gathered from voting precincts.

In the last five elections, partial results have been available around early evening local time.

Stay with us as we bring you more updates.

Race to Watch: The return of Leni Robredo, ‘the one that got away’published at 13:08 British Summer Time

13:08 BST

Joel Guinto
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

In 2022, then vice-president Leni Robredo waged an impossible yet spirited grassroots campaign against Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte.

Tens of thousands, many of them millennials and Gen Z, came to her rallies waving K-pop light sticks and wearing her campaign colour, pink.

She lost, coming in second with 15 million votes – less than half of what Marcos got.

The result was disappointing for Robredo’s supporters, who had pinned their hopes on her being the one to demolish dynasty politics in the Philippines. She was their TOTGA - the one that got away.

As vice-president to Rodrigo Duterte, Robredo had criticised the government’s war on drugs and its soft stand on the country’s sea dispute with China, and often partnered with civil society groups and aid agencies during natural disasters.

Since her defeat in 2022, Robredo spun off her campaign into an anti-poverty NGO Angat Buhay. In this election, she is running for mayor of Naga, a city in central Philippines that is also her bailiwick.

Naga is one of the few places where Robredo won against Marcos in 2022. She enjoys strong support in the city, where her husband, the late Jesse Robredo, served as mayor and received accolades for good governance.

Mr Robredo's death in a plane crash in 2012 had thrust Leni Robredo in the spotlight and paved the way for her to join politics.

Sara Duterte said today that she is ready to face whatever outcome awaits her in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial.

"My only issue is the impeachment. No matter what happens - guilty or acquittal - I'm ready for whatever happens," she told reporters.

The House of Representatives in February voted to impeach the vice president over the alleged misuse of state funds.

With tensions between her family and the Marcos dynasty casting a shadow over the election, the new composition of the 24-seat senate could significantly influence the outcome of her impeachment trial.

In addition to being removed from office, a guilty verdict could permanently bar her from holding public office.

Polls in the Philippines' midterm elections have just closed, at 7pm local time.

Now the count begins.

While there will be no official counting for the day, media networks and election watchdog groups will be releasing unofficial counts based on data from vote-counting machines, which have historically been reliable.

Many of the votes are likely to have been counted within the next hour - meaning we may have an idea of at least the top six of 12 senate seats by 8pm local time.

Image source, EPA

As millions of Filipinos cast their votes today, many are feeling the heat from the hot weather, as temperatures in some regions reached over 34 degrees.

In many voting centres across the country, voters are saying that the extreme heat made the process difficult.

In Oas, Albay, a 65-year-old man died at the polling station after casting his vote at 6am. It's not clear whether his death is directly linked to the heat, but his wife had asked him to not go to vote because of the hot weather, according to local outlet ABS-CBN.

Voting machines in some areas have also reportedly struggled to cope under soaring temperatures, with the head of the Commission on Elections admitting that some machines were reportedly "overheating".

“Due to the extreme heat, the ink [on the ballots] does not dry immediately, and the ballot ends up stuck on the scanners,” George Garcia said today, adding that officials were using electric fans to cool the machines.

Even President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. encountered a glitch when he cast his vote. A live broadcast showed the machine initially failed to accept his ballot, and he had to feed it twice before it finally registered.

Imee Marcos' gamble: siding with the Dutertespublished at 11:27 British Summer Time

11:27 BST

Joel Guinto
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Senator Imee Marcos began her re-election campaign as part of her younger brother Bongbong Marcos’ slate, but announced her withdrawal in protest to the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte last March.

Shortly after that, Imee released an ad that showed her re-election bid being endorsed by Duterte’s daughter, Vice-President Sara. In the ad, both women are dressed in black, condemning the situation under Marcos’ presidency - where many, they say, are “starving for food and justice”.

Imee is not officially running under the elder Duterte’s ticket, but some analysts have said her affiliation with them could sway things in the Dutertes’ favour.

Sara’s endorsement is also expected to give Imee’s campaign a much-needed boost. Imee is fighting tooth-and-nail for the last few spots in the 12 Senate seats up for grabs, according to opinion polls.

Family feuds are a staple of Philippine politics, though Imee insists she is not feuding with her brother. She has however criticised her brother’s closest associates, which include members of their extended family.

Meanwhile her alliance with the Dutertes goes way back. When Rodrigo Duterte ran for president in 2016, he credited Imee as the only governor to support the campaign. In 2019, Imee was elected senator under the Duterte ticket.

But when the Marcos-Duterte alliance unravelled, Imee found herself in the middle. Voters could not figure out which side she was on, contributing to her poor performance in the surveys, analysts say.

With her re-election on the line, Imee is on Sara’s side. When the results come in we'll find out if that gamble pays off.