[File Photo] The plenary hall of the House of Representatives at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, where returning and newly elected lawmakers will convene for the 20th Congress.
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Incumbent members of the House of Representatives are poised to retain their seats this year, maintaining a commanding lead over their respective rivals at the grassroots level, as reflected in the partial and unofficial election tallies.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez—running unopposed as Leyte’s first district representative for a third consecutive term—garnered 172,360 votes and is expected to be handpicked once more by his peers to shepherd anew the lower chamber in the 20th Congress.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s son, Sandro Marcos, is also expected to secure a second term in Congress, running unopposed as Ilocos Norte 1st District representative.
Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte, the eldest son of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is on track to win his third and final term in Congress, defeating his closest rival, incumbent PBA Rep. Margarita “Migs” Nograles.
As of midnight on Tuesday, Duterte held a commanding lead of 198,086 votes over Nograles, who received 47,920 votes, despite his campaign being marked by personal and family-related issues.
Rep. Duterte’s son, Omar Duterte, is also likely to make his congressional debut as Davao 2nd District lawmaker, having secured 160,086 votes against his two contenders, who each received fewer than 100,000 votes.
In Manila, administration allies and vocal critics of Vice President Sara Duterte—Ernix Dionisio, Rolan Valeriano, and Joel Chua—are likewise poised to retain their congressional seats as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd District representatives. Only Bienvenido Abante of Manila’s 6th District is set to lose his seat to Joey Uy, who obtained 65,700 votes—a lead of 3,373.
Meanwhile, Fifth District Rep. Irwin Tien is also expected to remain in office, with 92,495 votes against sole rival Amado Bagatsing, who received 86,099.
Giselle Maceda will succeed her husband, Edward Maceda, as Manila’s Fourth District representative, obtaining 54,340 votes—outpacing close contender JTV Aksyon, who received 35,296.
For party-lists, Akbayan topped the initial results with 2.7 million votes, followed by Duterte Youth with 2.3 million. Ranking next were Tingog with 1.8 million, 4Ps with 1.4 million, and ACT-CIS with 1.2 million.
Trailing close behind were Ako Bicol with 1.1 million votes, Uswag Ilonggo with 806,884, and Solid North with 760,057.
Except for Akbayan and Solid North, all the party-lists mentioned currently hold seats in the 19th Congress.
(This is a developing story.)
