RETURNING Senators Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, the top choices among Thomasians, have solidified their spots in the top five of the 2025 midterm elections, partial results from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed.
Aquino and Pangilinan — who ranked first and second, respectively, in the Varsitarian’s pre-election survey — placed second and fifth in the latest partial count of the “Magic 12” as of Tuesday night.
Aquino, who ran under the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino Party-list, has obtained 20.64 million votes so far, while Pangilinan of the Liberal Party got 15.09 million votes.
Leading the Senate race is another re-electionist, Christopher “Bong” Go, who has garnered 26.48 million votes. Ranking third is Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa with 20.27 million votes, followed by ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo in fourth with 16.81 million votes.
Go, Tulfo, and Dela Rosa did not make it to the top 12 of the Varsitarian survey, though they consistently placed within the top five of national surveys, including the Pulse Asia poll conducted in April.
SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta ranked sixth with 14.91 million votes, followed by returning Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson in seventh with 14.86 million votes and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III in eighth with 14.6 million votes.
Sen. Pia Cayetano will get a fresh six-year term after placing ninth with 14.31 million votes, while House Deputy Speaker Camille Villar landed tenth with 13.36 million votes.
Rounding out the top 12 are Senate veteran Lito Lapid (No. 11; 13.12 million votes) and Imee Marcos (No. 12; 13.04 million votes), who will serve her second consecutive and final term until 2031.
READ: Aquino, Pangilinan are UST students’ top picks for Senate — Varsitarian survey
Other candidates who made the top 12 of the UST survey fell short in the actual results.
Heidi Mendoza (No. 21; 8.65 million votes), Luke Espiritu (No. 29; 6.4 million votes), Leody de Guzman (No. 34; 4.09 million votes), and Sonny Matula (No. 38; 3.82 million votes) all landed outside of the top 20.
Makabayan bloc aspirants also fell short of a Senate seat: Teddy Casiño (No. 32; 4.6 million votes), Arlene Brosas (No. 33; 4.29 million votes), Danilo Ramos (No. 35; 4.04 million votes), Ronnel Arambulo (No. 39; 3.8 million votes), France Castro (No. 40; 3.63 million votes), and Liza Maza (No. 37; 3.8 million votes).
Meanwhile, results of the Manila mayoral race mirrored projections from the Varsitarian poll, with returning Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso successfully reclaiming the city’s top post from his former vice mayor, Maria Sheilah “Honey” Lacuna.
Domagoso tallied 529,940 votes, far ahead of outgoing Mayor Lacuna’s 190,501. Tutok to Win Party-list Rep. Sam Versoza placed third with 164,172 votes.
Domagoso and his vice mayor, Angela Lei “Chi” Atienza, were proclaimed Tuesday night.
