Veteran lawmakers dominate new Philippine Senate

By Paolo Castro

As the dust settled in the recent Philippine midterm elections, the 12 leaders of the senatorial race were formally proclaimed by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), with the majority of winners lawmakers.

Two allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte – Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa – clinched another term in the Senate after finishing first and third, respectively.

Go, a Cabinet member during the Duterte administration, topped the race with 27.1 million votes, while Dela Rosa was third with 20.7 million.

Senate slate rounded out by mix of candidates

Former lawmaker Bam Aquino garnered 20.9 million votes to come second.

Associated with the Liberal Party, he had a good showing in survey results, but his rise could still be considered unexpected.

Aquino’s fellow party member, Kiko Pangilinan, also had a strong showing, with 15.3 million votes good enough for fifth spot.

Both Aquino and Pangilinan were previously senators, and the latter even ran for the vice-presidency in the 2022 elections.

In fourth spot was Erwin Tulfo, who clinched 17.1 million votes.

Rodante Marcoleta was in sixth spot with 15.2 million votes.

Veteran lawmakers Ping Lacson and Tito Sotto are back in the Senate with 15.1 million and 14.8 million votes, respectively.

Pia Cayetano, another veteran politician, also made it into the top 12 with 14.5 million votes for 9th spot followed by Camille Villar with 13.6 million votes.

Lito Lapid (13.4 million votes) and Imee Marcos (13.3 million) completed the senatorial slate.

Ben Tulfo and Bong Revilla missed out on spots, with roughly 12 million votes each.

Manny Pacquiao, meanwhile, failed to return to the Senate as he finished in 18th spot with 10.3 million votes.

While the winners are made up of various political parties, reports suggest that the slate is equally divided between allies of President Bongbong Marcos Jr. and Vice-President Sara Duterte, with Aquino and Pangilinan having no affiliation with the two camps.

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