Nine days after the Filipino people cast their votes for the May 13 midterm elections, the 12 winning senators have now been proclaimed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
The proclamation was held on Wednesday, May 22, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
Leading the winning circle is incumbent Senator Cynthia Villar with 25,283,727 votes, followed by Senator Grace Poe with 22,029,788 voted, based on Comelec’s final and official tally.
Landing on the third spot is President Rodrigo Duterte’s former aide Christopher “Bong” Go with 20,657,702 votes, then Taguig Representative Pia Cayetano with 19, 789,019 votes. Placing fifth in the list is the country’s former top cop Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa with 19,004,225 votes.
Reelectionist Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, on the other hand, ranked sixth with 18,161,862 votes, while former senator and actor Manuel “Lito” Lapid finished seventh with 16,965,464.
The daughter of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos, also entered the “Magic 12” with 15,882,628 votes, securing the eighth spot. She was then followed by former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino with 15,510,026 votes, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel with 14,668,665 votes, and former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. with 14,624,445.
Completing the winners of the 2019 senatorial race is Senator Nancy Binay who garnered 14,504,936 votes.
The new set of senators, who were accompanied by their families, also received their certificate of proclamation. The senators-elect will be serving at the upper chamber until June 30, 2025.
The Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), postponed the proclamation of winning senators and party-list groups on Tuesday, saying that they were still canvassing election returns from Saudi Arabia that time and waiting for those from Washington D.C. to “make sure that there will be no movement in ranking of elected officials,” the poll body’s spokesperson James Jimenez said in a mix of Filipino and English.
The proclamation of winning party-list groups, meanwhile, will also be held today at 7 p.m. at the PICC.