PHILIPPINES

Liberals in the 2025 Midterm Elections and Beyond

By John Joseph S. Coronel

Parliamentary elections were held in the Philippines on May 12. These midterm elections, in which the winners take office midway through President Marcos' term, will elect all 317 seats in the House of Representatives and 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate to form the 20th Philippine Congress. Local elections for the executive and legislative branches were also held in all municipalities, cities and provinces across the country. As in Canada and Australia, the elections showed that liberalism is neither dead nor obsolete. Liberal forces are needed and wanted. There is no other explanation for the surprising election result, especially with regard to the Senate elections.

For more than a year now, Philippine politics has been defined as no more than a rivalry between the two most powerful political dynasties in the country—the Marcoses versus the Dutertes.

This started with ripples—former President Rodrigo Duterte accusing his successor of being a drug user, and Vice President Sara Duterte resigning from her cabinet post as education secretary. It culminated with two political tsunamis—the impeachment of the vice president by a majority of congressmen last February 5, and the arrest of Mr. Duterte and his flight to The Hague exactly two months before the May 12, 2025 Midterm Elections.

Whether in traditional media or in social media, the focus of public discourse before and during the campaign was the political teledrama between these two warring families that used to be allies. Most candidates had to align themselves with either camp, and this was particularly evident in the senatorial slates of the two respective camps since the senate would have to either convict or acquit Sara Duterte.

Those  that belonged to neither camp, like the Liberal Party of the Philippines (LP) and its allies, were relegated to the sidelines.  More importantly, with the feudal family feud in the limelight, more substantive issues were not given their due attention. Survey after survey by the Social Weather Station, Pulse Asia, and other reputable firms had put former Senator and LP Chairperson, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and former Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino of KNP, an LP ally, at the tail end but mostly outside the so-called “Magic 12” referring to the dozen senators to be elected.  

The Pinks (the supporters of former vice president and 2022 opposition presidential candidate, Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo)  and the Yellows (LP and the Aquino family) were depicted as a spent force. Aside from senators, the partylists are elected nationally. For the first time, LP’s citizen arm, the Mamamayang Liberal (ML), contested in this year’s elections as a partylist with former senator and prisoner of conscience, Leila de Lima, as the lead nominee. Despite the national and international prominence of de Lima, ML also did poorly in the surveys.

The poor showing of liberal and democratic candidates during the campaign was not surprising since the key leaders and eminent figures of the Liberals and the Pink Movement have been systematically demonized through disinformation for the most part of the new millennium.  

No one was probably more surprised than Aquino and Pangilinan themselves when they placed second and fifth place, respectively, in the senatorial race. As of this writing, partial and unofficial results with more than 97 percent votes in indicate that Aquino and Pangilinan had garnered more than twenty and fifteen million votes, respectively. And ML ranked 14th in the party list; thus, assuring de Lima of a congressional seat.

Aquino, Pangilinan, and ML also fared well in several Marcos and Duterte bailiwicks. For example, in Ilocos Norte, the home province of the Marcoses, Aquino ranked sixth place. This is particularly remarkable given the legendary rivalry between Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. and martyred senator and LP Secretary General, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.  Could this indicate that the historical distortions that helped put Duterte and Marcos Jr. in power, at expense of the legacy of Ninoy, Cory, and Noynoy Aquino, are slowly losing traction? Disinformation is often cited as a major cause of the rise of populism and the decline of democracy worldwide. 

The disintegration of the North (Marcos)-South (Duterte) Uniteam ironically provided a democratic space for progressive and reformist  political players. As Pangilinan explained in one interview, they were not part of the two clashing boulders, and people saw in them a genuine alternative. This was particularly attractive to soft voters, especially from amongst the Millennials and the Gen-Z, many of whom voted for the first time.

The results of the 2025 midterm elections opened a pandora’s box of not just the unexpected but also of great possibilities, the impact of which goes way beyond this year’s elections. It spurred hope and optimism that could lead to greater activism and people empowerment within the legislature and the parliament of the streets. It proved that the Pink Wave, a base of millions that drove the 2022 people’s campaign of the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem, is alive and kicking.  Furthermore, new frontiers for sectoral alliances and community participation can be explored. These are opportunities that LP and its coalition partners cannot afford to neglect. It is incumbent upon the leadership of LP and the Pink Movement to prove that they are worthy of trust and support through deeds and words.

Pangilinan and Aquino will be joining Risa Hontiveros of Akbayan (LP’s social democratic ally)  in the Senate, a formidable triumvirate in the 24-member body. And Akbayan’s Chel Diokno and de Lima, both legal eagles beyond reproach, will invigorate the discourse in the often obeisant House of Representatives.  Even if they are few in numbers, the voices of LP, Akbayan and other allies will be heard in both chambers of congress. They will fulfill the role often neglected by legislators—that of lawmaking and of proactive oversight, especially as guardians against graft and corruption, and government inefficiencies and incompetence.

Midterm elections are also seen as dress rehearsals for the presidential elections.  The rise of a viable third force potentially has a good chance of victory in 2028.

The election results in Canada, Australia and the Philippines all within a short span have indicated a resurgence of progressive and democratic leaders, perhaps a reaction to Trump, Duterte and their kind, but nevertheless, it is a significant development. The global decline of liberal democracy is not only stoppable, it is reversible.

John Joseph Coronel is the President of the Center of Liberalism and Democracy, Manila/Philippines