WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
After days of canvassing, the winning senatorial candidates of the 2022 elections are set to be proclaimed on Wednesday, May 18.
The proclamation, which will be made by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) sitting as National Board of Canvassers, is scheduled at the Philippine International Convention Center. All of the 12 winning senators have confirmed their attendance, according to the Comelec.
The following are set to be proclaimed senators on Wednesday: Robin Padilla, Loren Legarda, Raffy Tulfo, Win Gatchalian, Chiz Escudero, Mark Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, Migz Zubiri, Joel Villanueva, JV Ejercito, Risa Hontiveros, and Jinggoy Estrada.
Watch the livestream in the YouTube video below:
Bookmark and refresh this page for real-time updates on the proclamation of senators-elect at 4 pm (Manila time) on Wednesday.
LATEST UPDATES
Robin Padilla, top pick for senator
Actor Robin Padilla, one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s most loyal celebrity supporters, emerged as the top senatorial candidate in the 2022 elections, besting the likes of longtime politicians on his first try for the Senate.
In the 2022 race, he consistently appeared at campaign sorties of Uniteam slate of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos – and presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, upon her personal wishes.
Padilla’s performance in the 2022 polls surpassed preelection surveys. The latest April 2022 survey of Pulse Asia had the action star in the 3rd to 4th rank, with a 42.3% voter preference.
Read more here.
Most opposition bets fail to break into Senate
Barely any opposition candidate entered the top 12 spots in the 2022 Senate race, failing to leave the shadow of crushing defeat it saw after Duterte-allied candidates dominated the 2019 midterm polls.
Reelectionst senator Risa Hontiveros was the lone opposition bet who managed to capture a seat in the upper chamber after she landed 11th out of 63 candidates. Only 12 senators will be proclaimed.
The outcome will see a Senate dominated by allies of presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the incumbent Duterte administration. Majority of the candidates who made it into the 12 spots were either shared candidates of several presidential-vice presidential tandems or belonged to the Uniteam slate.
Read more here.
Family business in the Senate
A fourth of the incoming Senate – or 6 of the 24 seats – will be occupied by politicians who come from just three families.
This comes after former senator and House speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and former public works secretary Mark Villar made it into the Magic 12, while half-brothers JV Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada are poised to return to the upper chamber together.
Cayetano’s return to the Senate will see him alongside his sister, Senator Pia Cayetano. Villar, meanwhile, will join his mother, Cynthia, for his first term as senator.
Half-brothers Ejercito and Estrada likewise make it into the Senate, signaling the House of Estrada’s return not only to Congress, but Philippine politics, after their family lost big in the 2019 midterm polls.
Read more here.
Familiar names, faces: 5 former senators mount comeback
Former senators Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, and JV Ejercito will be senators-elect once more, after the 5 politicians enter comfortably in the winning Magic 12 circle.
Legarda, who previously served as senator for 3 terms, returns to the Senate after serving as deputy speaker and representative of the lone district of Antique in the House of Representatives. Escudero served as Sorsogon governor from 2019-2022, while Cayetano returns after holding the post of Taguig-Pateros Representative and House Speaker.
After both failing to win Senate seats in 2019, half-brothers Ejercito and Estrada managed to make their way back to Congress in the May polls.
Read more here.