MANILA, Philippines – Five reelectionist senators, along with four first-timers and three former senators were proclaimed Wednesday morning by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and will join the 18th congress which opens in July.
The reelected senators are Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Sonny Angara, Koko Pimentel and Nancy Binay, while neophyte senators are former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, former Philippine National Police and Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman and presidential adviser Francis Tolentino.
Returning to the Senate are former senators Lito Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Pia Cayetano.
Topping this year’s senatorial race is Villar, who ran under the Nacionalista Party (NP) and endorsed by the Hugpong ng Pagbabago Party (HNP), with 25,283,727 votes.
She was followed by fellow by Poe, who ran as an independent candidate and cornered 22,029,788 votes.
Placing third with 20,657,702 votes is Go, followed by Cayetano (19,789,019 votes) and Dela Rosa (19,004,225 votes).
Completing the so-called Magic 12 are:
6th: Sonny Angara – 18,161,862 votes
7th: Lito Lapid – 16,965,464 votes
8th: Imee Marcos – 15,882,628 votes
9th: Francis Tolentino – 15,510,026 votes
10th: Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III – 14,668,665 votes
11th: Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. – 14,624,445 votes
12th: Nancy Binay – 14,504,936 votes
The results were based on a total of 167 certificates of canvass (COCs) transmitted from all over the country and posts abroad.
READ: VIPs attend proclamation of winning Senate bets
(Editor: Cenon B. Bibe Jr. / Gilbert S. Gaviola)