As the Commission on Elections (Comelec) continues to count our votes from yesterday’s elections, early results are already challenging projections and shaking up political strongholds. From unexpected defeats of long-entrenched dynasties to the rise of overlooked candidates, the 2025 race is proving to be unpredictable.
Below are five of the most surprising outcomes so far, based on partial and unofficial results released by Comelec as of Tuesday, May 13, 2:21 p.m.
Kiko Pangilinan and Bam Aquino Make the Senate Top 5
After barely making the top 12 in voter preference surveys, former Senators Francis Pancratius “Kiko” Nepomuceno Pangilinan and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aguirre Aquino IV have not only cracked through the Magic 12 but reached the top 5. Aquino currently stands in the second spot at 20.6 million votes, while Pangilinan stands in fifth with 15 million votes.
While both are associated with the Liberal Party, Aquino left in 2024 to chair the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KANP), a newer political party geared towards youth empowerment.
Villars Lose Las Piñas in Congressional Race
In the lead-up to the elections, incumbent Senator Cynthia Villar and her daughter, Las Piñas City Representative Camille Villar, were poised to switch offices. But while the younger Villar has climbed to the senatorial elections’ top 12, Cynthia is currently losing to independent candidate Mark Anthony Santos.
For a whopping 27 years, the Villar family has represented the city in Congress, starting with Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. in 1998, and then passed on to Cynthia in 2001, their son Mark in 2010, and Camille in 2019. Manny also represented the Las Piñas–Muntinlupa district in 1992 before it was abolished in 1998.
Incumbent Governor Gwen Garcia Loses Grip on Cebu
It also seems that Cebu province is slipping out of the Garcia family’s control. Incumbent Governor Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia trails behind the province’s current top pick, PDP-Laban candidate Pam Baricuatro, by a margin of over 342,000 votes.
Garcia’s father, Pablo Paras Garcia, served as Cebu governor from 1995 to 2004 and then as its representative in Congress from 2007 to 2013. If Gwen wins the gubernatorial race this year, it would mark her sixth term.
Akbayan Rises to the Top of Party-List Picks
Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party (Akbayan) unexpectedly found its way to the top of this year’s party list race, so far garnering 2.7 million or 6.71 percent of votes. If the party-list maintains its number one spot, three seats in the House of Representatives await human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Tadeo “Chel” Icasiano Diokno, Akbayan Rep. Percival “Perci” Vilar Cendaña, and Moro women leader Haima “Dadah” Kiram Ismula.
In the 2022 national elections, the party only managed to scrape one seat, which Cendaña may be able to keep.
Rodante Marcoleta is the Magic 12’s Dark Horse
SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta currently occupies the sixth spot in the senatorial race, making him another unexpected top bet. In the past four months, Marcoleta failed to break through the top 12 in voter preference surveys.
But if it’s true that the Christian church Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) vote is powerful, then his emergence in the real top 12 may be an indication. On May 9, INC released its sample ballot to endorse eight senatorial candidates, including Marcoleta, who is a prominent member of the church and represented the INC-associated party Alagad from 2004 to 2013. TV5’s 2010 exit poll shows that 4.23 percent of valid votes were cast by INC members, but there are no available statistics regarding the church’s current voting population.
