MAGIC 12 SENATORS | Comelec announces 12 winning senatorial candidates dominated by Marcos allies

May 17, 2022 , 09:48 PM

By Clarist Zablan, News5 Digital

(May 17, 2022) – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday announced the 12 winning candidates in the May 2022 senatorial race, dominated by the winning presidential candidate’s allies, and will be officially proclaimed tomorrow.

The winning candidates’ rankings, as announced by the poll body sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), is consistent with the partial and unofficial results from the transparency server.

Actor Robin Padilla led the senatorial race with 26,612,434 votes. Loren Legarda, who will return to the Senate after three years as Antique congresswoman, came second and social media sensation and TV5 radio and television host Raffy Tulfo, was third with 24,264,969 and 23,396,954 votes, respectively.

Also included in the Magic 12 are reelectionist Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Risa Hontiveros, and Joel Villanueva, comebacking senators, Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Taguig–Pateros Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano, and brothers JV Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada.

Inanunsyo ng Commission on Elections (COMELEC) na nagsisilbing National Board of Canvassers na aprubado na ang proklamasyon ng top 12 winning senatorial candidates, base sa 172 out of 173 certificates of canvas na kanilang binilang. | via Greg Gregorio #BilangPilipino2022 pic.twitter.com/aaGppAP5Of

— News5 (@News5PH) May 17, 2022

First-timer, and former public works secretary Mark Villar will joint the Senate with his mother, Cynthia Villar who is rumored to be the next Senate President.

Half of the winning candidates belonged to the senatorial ticket of the leading presidential and vice presidential candidates Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte-Carpio, namely: Padilla, Gatchalian, Villar, Zubiri, and Estrada. Legarda is also a guest candidate in their slate.

Congress will start canvassing the votes for president and vice president on Monday and would likely proclaimed winners Marcos and Duterte-Carpio based on partial and unofficial count.

Only Risa Hontiveros made it in the Magic 12 among the candidates of Marcos’ closest rival, Vice President Leonor Robredo. She has earlier expressed plans to join the minority. She would likely join incumbent senators Aquilino Pimente and Pia Cayetano and her brother, Alan Peter.

The rest of the senatorial candidates did not categorically endorse a presidential bet during the campaign period, but were mostly included as guest candidates in Robredo’s and Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao’s slates.

The 12 senators will make up half of the composition of the upper house of the Congress, whose role is to mainly craft and deliberate laws and provide checks and balances to the executive branch. Elected by large, senators are expected to have a “broader outlook” of the country’s issues.

Jean Encinas-Franco, a political science professor, has expressed concerns on the composition of the Magic 12 as it could prevent the upper house from maintaining independence from the executive branch.

Former senator Orly Mercado agreed that maintaining checks and balances is important for senators, but he assuage concerns that the upcoming Senate will become a “rubber stamp” of the president despite its expected composition.

“There will be days na kahit nasa administrasyon ka, you will disagree e, sapagkat ang Senado ineelect yan ng buong bansa. ‘Pag ineelect ng buong bansa ang ibig sabihin nyan dapat ang interest mo hindi parochial, dapat mas strategic, pangmalawakan,” Mercado said on CignalTV’s One PH channel’s program “Sa Totoo Lang.”

(MM)

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