MANILA, Philippines – In a country where alliances tend to shift based on personalities and short-term interests, slates often serve as vehicles for political bids.

The 2025 Philippines elections reflected this, especially against the backdrop of the rivalry between President Ferdinand Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte. They were once close allies who ran together and won under the “Uniteam” banner in 2022, but after three years, they have since waged a bitter and public feud. Now, at the halfway mark of their terms, the two highest officials of the country have further intensified the divide by fielding different slates for the senatorial election.

The results of the elections are seen to impact Duterte’s upcoming impeachment trial. The Vice President is set to face trial in the Senate, likely on July 30 this year, following her impeachment at the House of Representatives. The trial will take place during the 20th Congress, which will include the current senators along with the top 12 winners of the 2025 elections.

In one corner, Marcos campaigned for the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, an initial 12-candidate slate that was reduced to 11 following his sister Imee’s departure. In some sorties, Marcos only campaigned for 10, minus Camille Villar.

In the other corner, Duterte campaigned for the “Duter10” slate backed by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte. The Vice President endorsed both Imee and Villar toward the tail end of the campaign season, on top of the original 10 names.

Meanwhile, the opposition bloc fielded bets through the Kiko-Bam tandem and Makabayan slate, both highlighting their roles as the “true opposition” versus Marcos and Duterte slates. Both slates also campaigned based on platforms.

The partial, unofficial results of the polls as of 8:30 am on Thursday, May 15, with votes from 97.37% of precincts, show three Duter10 bets in the top 12 and six from Marcos’ Alyansa. The Duter10 bets – Bong Go, Bato dela Rosa, and Rodante Marcoleta – notably ranked higher than Alyansa’s Erwin Tulfo, Panfilo Lacson, Pia Cayetano, and Lito Lapid.

Villar and Imee, who were endorsed by both Marcos and Duterte at one point, also clinched the top 10 and 12 spots, respectively. Meanwhile, opposition bets Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan made an unexpected leap into the top 12 despite earlier low survey rankings, securing the second and fifth spots, respectively.

Where did their votes come from? Data from the Comelec media server shows that Mindanao voted overwhelmingly for the Duter10 slate.

The graphs below show how each province voted for candidates from the various senatorial slates. Each circle represents a candidate, plotted according to the percentage of votes they received relative to the total number of votes cast in that area. Hover over each circle to see which candidate it represents. The circles are color-coded based on their respective slates.

Go and Dela Rosa secured the top two spots in the majority of the provinces in Mindanao. Only a few areas, such as Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, and Sulu, included some Alyansa candidates in their local top 12.

Villar and Imee, colored differently in the plots, also managed to enter most of the top 12 in the Mindanao provinces, including Misamis Occidental, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Zamboanga del Sur.

The same trend is seen in the composition of overseas Filipino voters and local absentee voters, who are composed of government workers and members of the media who were deployed on election day. 

Support was more mixed in the Visayas. While Go topped most provinces, other Duter10 candidates garnered lower vote percentages across the region. In contrast, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, and Guimaras notably showed strong support for the Kiko-Bam tandem.

Candidates from Marcos’ Alyansa performed better than most Duter10 bets in Luzon and the NCR, although provinces like Bataan and Nueva Vizcaya still ranked Go as their top choice. Imee also secured huge vote percentages in Northern Luzon, the bailiwick of the Marcos family.

However, the Kiko-Bam tandem also enjoyed substantial support in several Luzon provinces, particularly in the Bicol region.

The Kiko-Bam tandem’s surprise climb into the top 12 was fueled by strong support from vote-rich areas such as Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, and Batangas. They were also among the top senatorial choices of voters from the National Capital Region.

Some candidates from the Alyansa slate also received more localized support in NCR, with a few topping the polls in their home cities, such as Abby Binay in Makati and Benhur Abalos in Mandaluyong.

The Makabayan slate garnered only a small percentage of votes nationwide. However, they performed relatively better in parts of Luzon and the National Capital Region.

The Philippines logged a record-high voter turnout for midterm polls in 2025, at 81.65%. – with reports from Dylan Salcedo/Rappler.com