The 2025 Elections and the Filipino Conscience

On Election Day House Speaker Martin Romualdez reminded the Filipino electorate that their vote is a declaration of their conscience. The future of the Republic is in their hands.  

https://mb.com.ph/2025/05/12/romualdez-reminds-pinoys-your-vote-is-a-declaration-of-conscience

As Filipinos troop to polling precincts, House Speaker Martin Romualdez reminded them about the sanctity of their vote and the importance of the electoral process.

“Today, each Filipino has the power to shape the future of the Republic. When you cast your vote, you are not merely fulfilling a civic duty but taking part in a solemn act of democracy,” Romualdez sad in statemnent Monday morning. May 12.

“With each vote, we renew our shared responsibility for the direction of our nation,” he noted.

Romualdez says that the act of voting goes beyond procedure, reflecting the voter’s conscience and commitment to national development. “Your ballot is a declaration of conscience, a quiet but resolute affirmation of your role in building our nation."

The Speaker called for a thoughtful and peaceful conduct of the polls, and urged Filipinos to recognize the importance of the moment.

“Let us vote not with indifference or haste but with reflection, integrity, and care. This day reminds us that democracy lives not in institutions alone but in the choices of ordinary citizens acting with extraordinary purpose,” stated the House leader.

He also underscored the meaning of each ballot cast in the ongoing effort to uphold democratic ideals.

(Every vote holds the power to shape the future, and it is our responsibility and commitment as Filipino citizens. Let us choose peace, order, and respect for the process. With every vote, we demonstrate our care for the nation and our desire to uphold a strong democracy.)

The Speaker encouraged voters to protect the electoral process and remember those who fought to preserve it.

“I urge every Filipino to protect the sanctity of this process. Let us honor those who came before us by exercising this right responsibly, with discipline and dignity,” Romualdez said.

The sanctity of the process? 

Now that the 2025 elections are now over what exactly does the conscience of Filipinos look like? How did was the process sanctified. Well, in Albuera Filipinos decided to elect a self-confessed drug lord to be mayor. 

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2025/05/13/2442807/kerwin-espinosa-proclaimed-mayor-albuera

Self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa has been proclaimed the mayor of Albuera, Leyte on Tuesday, May 13.

He bagged a total of 10,939 votes, based on 71.79% of election returns processed.

Espinosa clinched a decisive victory over his opponents, Vince Rama and incumbent mayor Sixto dela Victoria, who received 7,081 and 2,761 votes, respectively. He was officially proclaimed winner by the board of canvassers on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, his sister, RR Espinosa, has also been proclaimed vice-mayor of Albuera.

In an interview with GMA News, Kerwin said his top priorities as mayor will be ensuring peace and order and intensifying efforts against illegal drugs.

(What I will prioritize first is peace and order, and providing a solution to the drug problem here in Albuera. We will clean up drugs in our city. We will have zero tolerance for drugs.)

 It can be recalled that Kerwin was shot on April 10 during a campaign event in Barangay Tinag-an. He was rushed to a hospital and, fortunately, made a full recovery. 

In 2016, detained former President Rodrigo Duterte publicly accused Kerwin of involvement in the Eastern Visayas illegal drug trade, implicating both him and his father, then-mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., after a police raid near their Albuera home yielded P11 million worth of shabu. 

Although Kerwin initially implicated former senator Leila de Lima in the New Bilibid Prison drug trade, he later recanted his testimony.

Self-confessed drug lord and now mayor Kerwin Espinosa says he will prioritize finding a solution to the drug problem. Is Albuera so devoid of able politicians that the citizens thought voting in a criminal would be the right thing to get the city back on track? 

In Negros Oriental a family of four now rules over the province and Dumaguete City. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1249983

For the first time in the modern history of Negros Oriental, a family of four has swept key elective positions in the province during Monday’s national and local elections.

They are incumbent Governor Manuel “Chaco” Sagarbarria, incumbent 2nd District Rep. Manuel “Chikiting” Sagarbarria, incumbent Dumaguete Vice Mayor Ma. Isabel “Maisa” Sagarbarria, and Chessa Sagarbarria.

Chaco was elected governor with 365,020 votes, beating close rival former governor Pryde Henry Teves, who came in second with 254,415 votes.

Four other candidates contested the province’s top elective position.

This is Chaco’s first election as governor, after he rose to the position by rule of succession following the demise of two governors ahead of him.

Chikiting, on his third and final term, is returning as mayor of this capital city, where he served for three terms before joining Congress.

Maisa, meanwhile, clinched the 2nd District spot, replacing her husband, and trumping incumbent Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, who is on his last term as mayor.

Chessa, on the other hand, made it to the city council here with Sagarbarria's lineup for councilors occupying the majority of the 10 seats.

One family member is governor. Another family member is now Mayor and his wife has taken his spot in the House of Representatives. The last family member is on the city council. The man who is now mayor has already served three previous terms before joining Congress. Now that he is once again eligible to serve as mayor he is back in the mayoralty and his wife is replacing him in Congress. In the Philippines politics is a never-ending revolving door. 

But this isn't the only town in the Philippines being ruled by a single family. 

https://mb.com.ph/2025/05/13/couples-emerged-victorious-in-negros-occidental-polls

Three local government units in Negros Occidental are now headed by couples who emerged victorious in the midterm elections.

In Kabankalan City, Mayor Benjie Miranda, a former soldier, was reelected for his second term, while his wife Divina, a teacher and political neophyte, won as vice mayor.

In Moises Padilla town, re-electionist Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo and her husband Pimpoy Yulo were proclaimed winners in the mayoral and vice-mayoral races.

In Hinigaran town, Mayor Nadie Arceo and wife Vice Mayor Mary Grace Arceo swapped posts and won.

The family that rules together, stays together. 

The good citizens of Porac thought it a good idea to vote for the incumbent Mayor who has been dismissed from office and prevented from ever holding public office again. 

https://www.inquirer.net/442948/dismissed-mayor-wins-re-election-in-porac-pampanga/

Despite being dismissed from office in April by the Office of the Ombudsman over his alleged involvement in a scam farm operation, Porac Mayor Jaime “Jing” Capil won re-election in the May 12 polls.

Municipal Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials proclaimed Capil, his daughter and running mate Trisha Anglie Capil, and the winning municipal councilors late Monday night.

A few days before the election, the Capils received the endorsement of the bloc-voting Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC).

On May 9, the Capils expressed their gratitude to INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo in a Facebook post.

“We sincerely thank you and the entire leadership of the Iglesia Ni Cristo for your trust in us as your chosen candidates for the upcoming May 12, 2025, elections,” Mayor Capil wrote. “This is a great honor and an inspiration for us to continue our honest, humane, and God-centered service to our town.”

On April 4, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered Capil’s dismissal and imposed a perpetual ban from holding public office, citing gross neglect of duty related to the operation of the “Lucky South 99” scam farm in Porac.

Comelec Region 3 earlier stated that Capil was no longer eligible to run. Regional Director Atty. Elmo Duque emphasized that the Ombudsman’s decision was “immediately executory.”

Capil’s legal team, however, maintains the dismissal is not yet final and remains under appeal.

In a separate Facebook post, Capil’s camp urged Duque to be cautious in making public statements.

“Atty. Elmo T. Duque of Comelec, with all due respect, please be cautious. What you’re saying isn’t accurate. There is no ‘final decision’ in our case yet. We are appealing. Mayor Jing Capil is eligible to run as a regular candidate, and the votes of trusting Poraqueños will not be wasted,” the statement read.

The Comelec says the Ombudsman's ruling is "immediately executory." The disgrace Mayor says they are appealing. Why would the Iglesia ni Cristo endorse someone who has been dismissed and banned from holding public office? Most certainly "the votes of trusting Poraqueños" were wasted on this guy. 

Finally former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has won the Davao race for Mayor in a landslide. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2025/05/13/2442783/while-detention-rody-duterte-clinches-davao-city-mayoralty-landslide

Detention at the International Criminal Court hasn't dampened Rodrigo Duterte's political clout in Davao City, where the former president appears to be handily defeating rival Karlo Nograles in the mayoralty race, partial election returns show.

The latest partial and unofficial results from the Davao City elections for mayor show the elder Duterte commanding a whopping 472,000-vote lead over Nograles, who had sought to challenge the family's over two-decade grip on Davao City's highest office. 

The former president — who faces crimes against humanity charges at the ICC for his controversial war on drugs — has reached over 530,000 votes, while Nograles trails behind with 64,000, based on the partial and unofficial results early morning on Tuesday, May 13.

Duterte's kin in position. Duterte's son, Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, also appears headed for victory in the vice mayoral race, with over 527,000 votes. His closest contender for vice mayor — independent candidate Bernie Al-ag — is trailing at around 63,000.

The former president's eldest son Paolo Duterte also appears poised to win the elections for Davao City first district representative. Paolo has reached about 199,000 votes — outpacing his closest challenger, Migs Nograles, who is Karlo's sister. She has tallied about 48,000 votes.

How can Duterte be proclaimed mayor, let alone govern, from a jail cell in Europe?

This is just a sampling of the results of the election. Despite Remulla's statements about the sanctity of the process and being a solemn part of democracy that shapes the future, what are the results? Criminals have been elected to office and political dynasties remain entrenched with power. What does that tell us about the Filipino conscience?