Proclamation of 12 winning senators set May 17 – Comelec

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

FILE: Staff members of the Commission on Elections check the ballot box they received for vote canvassing, at the Manila Hotel Tent City on Thursday (May 15, 2025). (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to proclaim the 12 winning senators on Saturday, five days after the May 12 midterm elections.

In a press briefing on Friday, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the proclamation is scheduled at 3 p.m. at the Tent City of the Manila Hotel.

“We are just waiting for the formal recommendation of the supervisory committee. We were informed they will recommend the proclamation of 12 winning senatorial candidates based on yesterday’s (Thursday) ranking. We will have the proclamation by 3 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday),” he said.

Each member of the Commission en banc will be given the chance to proclaim the winning senators starting from 12th place down to the one who got the highest votes.

“Each commissioner will be reading the certificate of proclamation of each and every candidate,” Garcia said.

The Comelec chief added that each senator-elect is allowed to bring along 10 to 15 guests and are given five minutes each to deliver their speeches.

“We will start distributing the invitations to the winning senatorial candidates. And maybe 10 to 15 guests will be allowed to each winning senatorial candidate. This is more compared to the past. It used to be only five. This is their moment,” Garcia said.

Based on the National Certificate of Canvass (NCOC), the senatorial candidates who made it to the “Magic 12” are:

1. Sen. Bong Go – 27,121,073 votes
2. Former senator Bam Aquino – 20,971,899 votes
3. Sen. Ronald dela Rosa – 20,773,946 votes
4. ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo – 17,118,881 votes
5. Former senator Francis Pangilinan – 15,343,229
6. SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta – 15,250,723
7. Former senator Panfilo Lacson – 15,106,111
8. Former Senate president Vicente Sotto III – 14,832,996
9. Sen. Pia Cayetano – 14,573,430
10. Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar – 13,651,274
11. Sen. Lito Lapid – 13,394,102
12. Sen. Imee Marcos – 13,339,227

On the other hand, the Comelec is looking at proclaiming the winning party-list groups on May 19.

Based on the NCOC, the top five party-list groups are Akbayan (2,779,621), Duterte Youth (2,338,564), Tingog (1,822,708), 4Ps (1,469,571), ACT-CIS (1,239,930), and Ako Bicol (1,073,119).

“We will come up with [a] resolution regarding allocation of seats for the party-list. That will be read in the proclamation of the party-list this coming Monday,” Garcia said.

The Commission en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, completed the canvassing of all 175 certificates of canvass, both local and overseas, on Thursday.