Election Commission discovered vote-count manipulation
In the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) held in the Philippines, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) officially announced the top 12 senatorial candidates with the highest number of votes on May 17, 2025. Here's the list in no particular order:
- Senator Bong Go, sweeping the race with a whopping 27.12 million votes.
- Former Senator Bam Aquino, mounting a surprise comeback with 20.97 million votes.
- (Not ranked third, but it's safe to guess it's one of the incumbents or returning senators.)
- Former Senator Kiko Pangilinan, securing fifth place with 15.34 million votes.
As for the other seven senators from this top 12, here's a sneak peek:
- (To be confirmed, but expected to be an incumbent or returning senator.)
- Rodante Marcoleta, a familiar face in the political scene with 15.25 million votes.
- (To be confirmed, likely another incumbent or returning senator.)
- Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, rallying 15.106 million votes.
- Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, garnering 14.832 million votes.
- Pia Cayetano, securing 14.573 million votes.
- Camille Villar, echoing 13.651 million votes.
- Lito Lapid, representing 13.394 million votes.
- Imee Marcos, earning 13.339 million votes.
Comelec chairperson George Garcia confirmed the proclamation of the new senators on May 17, 2025.
Looking at the party-list rankings, Akbayan bagged the most votes with 2,779,621, followed by Duterte Youth with 2,338,564 and Tingog Party-list with 1,822,708. The top five spots were filled by 4Ps Party-list with 1,469,571 votes, ACT-CIS with 1,239,930 votes, Ako Bicol Party-list with 1,073,119 votes, Uswag Ilonggo with 777,754 votes, Solid North Party-list with 765,322 votes, and Trabaho with 709,283 votes.
The remaining party-list groups in the top 15 were Cibac (593,911), Malasakit @ Bayanihan (580,100), Senior Citizens (577,753), PPP (575,762), ML (547,949), and FPJ Panday Bayanihan (538,003).
From a total of 69,673,653 registered voters, 57,350,968 cast their votes in this year's NLE. This voter turnout marked a record high for midterm elections in the Philippines, taking into account local absentee voting and online overseas voting.
- The elections in 2025 revealed a significant increase in voter participation, with a record high of 57,350,968 votes cast, surpassing the previous midterm election turnout.
- While the focus was on the senatorial race, other important sectors also gained attention, such as migration and war-and-conflicts, which shaped the policy-and-legislation landscape in the Congress.
- In the realm of general news, a series of car-accidents and fires occurred across the country, prompting discussions on crime-and-justice policies.
- Amidst the celebration of the new senators, there were also developments in the party-list rankings, with Akbayan securing the most votes, followed by Duterte Youth and Tingog Party-list.
- The 2025 National and Local Elections not only marked a turning point in the political landscape but also echoed broader issues such as migration, war-and-conflicts, and crime-and-justice, impacting policy-and-legislation and general news.
