Philippines Votes 2025: A Power Shift in the Senate

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In an article by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Japhet Quitzon recaps the Philippine midterm election results and asserts that there has been a power shift in the Senate.

Filipinos went to the polls on May 12 for consequential midterm elections. Voters chose representatives at almost all levels, from neighborhood-level leadership posts to seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Also at play were governorships and mayorships throughout the country. Among the most crucial elections were those for the 12 open Senate seats, which hold outsize influence, power, and prestige in the Philippine legislature.

The midterm elections, especially the nationally elected Senate, are seen as a bellwether for the 2028 presidential elections. Bread and butter issues like social safety net programs, job creation, poverty alleviation, and improved healthcare access were top of mind for most voters. Protecting Philippine territorial integrity, especially in the contested South China Sea, was another key rallying point. But overhanging these substantive issues was the ongoing political feud between the Marcos and Duterte camps, whose now-broken “UniTeam” alliance propelled President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte to power in 2022.