In Largely Catholic Philippines, A Muslim Woman Shakes Up Senate Campaign

Samira Gutoc cannot help but stand out from the crowded roster of candidates in the Philippines' midterm elections. The ebullient 44-year-old is a Muslim, and the only woman among the opposition's slate of eight candidates running for the Senate.

Half of the 24 seats in the upper chamber and all of the 297 seats in the House of Representatives will be chosen in Monday's polling. The Elections Commission says 62 million voters have registered, and if history is any guide, more than 70% of them will turn out.

Rodrigo Duterte, the populist president whose off-color remarks equally repel and attract Filipinos,is not on the ballot. Butthe election is very much a verdict on his first three years in office.Duterte — who won the presidency on a tough law-and-order platform — rarely missed the chance to warn anyone in the illegal drug trade, "If you destroy my country, I will kill."