(Eagle News)–The Commission on Elections en banc on Wednesday, May 22, proclaimed the winning senators in the May 13 polls.
They will serve as senators for six years, until June 30, 2025.
With their election, the next Senate is expected to be dominated by administration allies, following the shutout of all Otso Diretso Senate bets in the May 13 polls.
The next Senate is expected to have only four sitting Liberal Party senators: Risa Hontiveros, Franklin Drilon, Kiko Pangilinan and Leila de Lima.
Below are some trivia about the winning senators:
1. Cynthia Villar –
– wife of business mogul Manny Villar, mother of incumbent Public Works Secretary Mark Villar
– served as representative of the lone district of Las Piñas from 2001-2010
– placed 10th in the 2013 Senate elections
2. Grace Poe
– adopted daughter of actor Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces
– served as chair of the Movie and Television Review Classification Board from 2010 to 2012
– topped the 2013 Senate elections
– ran for President in 2016 but lost to President Rodrigo Duterte
3. Bong Go
– served as personal assistant to Rodrigo Duterte, now President, since 1998
– was appointed Special Assistant to the President from 2016 to 2018
4. Pia Cayetano
– sister of newly-elected Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano
– first elected to the Senate in 2004
– re-elected to the Senate in 2010
– elected as representative of the second district of Taguig City in 2016; became deputy speaker at the House of Representatives
5. Ronald dela Rosa
– served as PNP chief from July 1, 2016 to April 19, 2018; led Duterte’s drug war
– was appointed by Duterte as Director General of the Bureau of Corrections from April 30 to October 12, 2018
6. Sonny Angara
– son of former Senator Edgardo Angara and Gloria Manalang-Angara, former chair of the Cultural Center of the Philippines
– served as representative of Aurora in the House of Representatives for three terms since 2004
– placed sixth in the 2013 Senate elections
– served as chair of the Committee on Games, Amusement and Sports in the 16th Congress
– serves as chair of the local government and ways and means committees in the 17th Congress
7. Lito Lapid
-professional actor
– elected as vice governor of Pampanga in 1992
– served for three terms as governor of Pampanga
– ran for mayor of Angeles, Pampanga in 2004 but abandoned his plans after being urged to run as senator
– served for three terms at the Senate since 2004
8. Imee Marcos
– daughter of former President Ferdinand Marcos, brother of former Senator Bongbong Marcos
– served three terms as Ilocos Norte representative from 1998 to 2007
– was Ilocos Norte governor when she ran for a Senate seat in 2019
9. Francis Tolentino
– was appointed as OIC mayor of Tagaytay from 1986 to 1987
– ran for mayor of Tagaytay in 1995; served as Tagaytay mayor from 1995 to 2004
– was appointed by then-President Benigno Aquino III as chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in 2010
– ran for a Senate seat as an independent in 2016 but landed in 13th place, following Leila de Lima in 12th
10. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III
– eldest son of former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
– ran for Cagayan de Oro mayor in 2001 but lost to Vicente Emano
– ran for a Senate seat in the 2007 elections; eventually won a seat after the Senate Electoral Tribunal ruled in his favor and proclaimed him as the 12th winning senator, and not Juan Miguel Zubiri
– was elected to the Senate in 2013
– served as Senate President from 2016 to May 2018
– resigned as Senate President in May 2018 to focus on his reelection bid
11. Bong Revilla
– professional actor
– first elected to the Senate in 2004
– topped the Senate race for a second term in 2010
-was among those charged in connection with the alleged pork barrel scam
– was acquitted of plunder in December 2018
12. Nancy Binay
– daughter of former Vice President Jejomar Binay, sister of former Makati Mayor Junjun Binay and incumbent Mayor Abby Binay
– placed fifth in the 2013 Senate polls
