By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

LIKE many other pundits out there who’ve offered their points of view on how the 2025 midterm elections went, permit me to share my thoughts.

1. It’s encouraging that there has been no claim of grand-scale cheating via our new automated counting machines so far. However, to better ensure a tight and closer monitoring of results, I hope the 20^th Congress will still consider the hybrid election as strongly recommended by Sen. Imee Marcos: Manual voting at the precinct level before proceeding to prceeed with the digital reporting to the provincial, regional and national levels.

A hybrid system may delay the proclamation of winners by 12-25 hours, but this will further reinforce the national call for more accurate reporting of votes.  Most countries are already into digital voting, but I have yet to hear of any country that has adopted a hybrid system. Why?

2. The reelection and victory of the Guico-Lambino team is proof that an early organization-backed campaign is an advantage. The Espino-Nacar campaign team was hardly felt in the early stages of the campaign, which enabled the Guico-Lambino to reinforce their network of campaigners to move, undeterred by reports of a strong movement looming to replace the incumbents.
3. The reelection of the Unliserbisyo team of Mayor Belen Fernandez and Vice Mayor Bryan Kua (except for one) did not really come as a surprise. While the LIFE barkada was focused on sabotaging efforts of the Unliserbisyo team, Mayor Belen surged forward and took advantage of the switching of majority role at the sanggunian when three opposition councilors were suspended.

And when the official campaign period kicked-off, the LIFE barkada misread the minds of the young voters when they took to dancing on TikTok and banked on ex-Mayor Brian Lim to deliver the false narratives that could not make lies of the performance of the Unliserbisyo team.

4. The reelection of Urdaneta Mayor Julio Parayno III and his cousin Vice Mayor Jimmy Parayno was never doubted by the Urdanetans. There was no way they would choose to be led by an outsider like Mrs. Maan Guico, who’s not even a Pangasinense, whose only possible benefit to them would be the fact that she’s the wife of the governor with promises to have access to more provincial resources.
5. The continued reelection in San Carlos City of Resuello brothers in their never-ending switching of positions as mayor and vice mayor is proof of their tight political hold on their constituents. The return of the Soriano family must wait for another election and hope that the San Carleans soon tire of the Resuello brand.
6. The Villars’ political clout in the town of Sto. Tomas remains unchallenged and this could go on for another decade unless a big scandal brings it down.
7. The reelection of Sual Mayor Liseldo Calugay may have come as a surprise to some, given the clout of the Celeste family in the district. Credit must be given to his network of supporters in the town. (This can be likened to the situation in Urdaneta).
8. The election of Manay Gina de Venecia to succeed her son Toff as 4^th District Representative was a no-brainer. The political brand of the De Venecia as a true public servant was continuously reinforced every year! (This attempt of Atty. Alvin Fernandez to unseat her was futile because he was never seen to have worked with communities outside of Dagupan City).
9. The success of Mark Cojuangco to be elected as congressman of the 2^nd District was foreseen by many because of his recent constant exposure in various communities with projects in district, while Lingayen Mayor Pol Bataoil’s movements were largely limited to Lingayen.
10. The Lambino brand was met with mixed feelings in Pangasinan. VG Mark Lambino earned the most votes by far even compared to Gov. Guico’s votes. However, reactions to his parents’ quest was quite the opposite. Raul Lambino, his father, did not earn enough support from fellow Pangasinenses to land him in the top 12 senatorial race while his mother, Marilyn Lambino failed in her second attempt to be mayor of Mangaldan. Didn’t son VG Mark campaign hard enough for his parents?

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ALL EYES ON IMPEACHMENT OF VP SARA. Nothing about the campaign promises of the newly elected senators and congressmen will be recalled until and after the impeachment trial of VP Sara.

Speculations are rife about who in the senate (old and new) would vote for her impeachment, and the more common deduction is that the Senate may not have the required 2/3 votes to impeach her. But these were based mostly on each senator’s known past and present political affiliations.

A crucial question would be whether the refusal of VP Sara to fully account for her P125-M confidential funds would be sufficient to get rid of her, knowing that other agencies and congressmen received much more without accountability. But wait, the prosecution team from the House of Representatives would likely add the services of the feisty former senator Leila De Lima, and the articulate human rights lawyer Chel Diokno of Akbayan. Right off, Akbayan Sen. Risa Hontiveros is expected to vouch for the two arguing to impeach VP Sara.

But the political dilemma with conflicting implications for De Lima and Diokno whether to join the prosecution would be: Arguing for the impeachment of VP Sara would serve the political agenda of Speaker Martin Romualdez and the Marcoses while leaving it to the original prosecution team to prove its case could fail to convince senators to impeach her, making the Duterte political brand stronger in 2028 and beyond.

Both newly elected members of congress hate the Marcoses and the Dutertes!

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THE NEW ERA OF ‘VOTE-BUYING’.  Ask any of the candidates who entered the recent political contest, and they will acknowledge that vote-buying has become more expensive than ever.

But note! Vote-buying in the old context is no longer an assurance that the candidate who distributes cash guarantees a vote, because candidates are expected to distribute cash without holding voters to a commitment.  The cash is seen as a gift.

Candidates soon learned that voters merely compared the amount of ‘cash gift’ distributed and determined to win. Voters already feel that the candidates owe the ‘cash gifts’ to them to demonstrate their sincerity “to serve.”

This new mindset may have been formed by the ballyhooed distribution of millions worth of ayuda from public funds by the government during the campaign by the administration-backed candidates. This was the first time that Comelec officially allowed the distribution of cash via the government’s during a campaign-election period.

However, vote-buying by party-list groups was more palpable since the number of votes to qualify is pre-determined. Expect affluent politicians to top the race.  But results showed that not many of the candidates for the senate and congressional seats were rewarded by the ayuda from the Marcos administration.

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