Several celebrity candidates in the 2025 midterm elections experienced mixed outcomes, with a few emerging victorious, while many others fell short in their bids for government positions across various cities and provinces.
Here are the list of well-known figures, from actors, singers, athletes, and former stars, who either lost or won the 2025 midterm elections:
High-profile names like former senator boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, OPM singer Jimmy Bondoc, TV host Willie Revillame, and actors Bong Revilla and Phillip Salvador failed to secure a place in the Senate.
While Revilla and Pacquiao, failed to stage their political comebacks, their relatives succeeded in placing multiple slots in their respective cities and provinces.
Revilla’s wife, Lani Mercado-Revilla, was proclaimed congresswoman of Cavite’s 2nd District, while their children, Jolo and Ram secured spots in the same province as congressman and vice governor, respectively.
Meanwhile, in Sarangani and General Santos City, Pacquiao’s political clan continued with his brother, Rogelio Pacquiao, re-elected as governor of Sarangani, while his sister-in-law, Lorelie Pacquiao, clinched the mayoral seat in General Santos City. Adding to the family’s victories, Manny’s second son, Michael Pacquiao, also won as councilor in GenSan.
Former broadcaster and current ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo expectedly finished in the “Magic 12” of individuals running for senator.
Returning to the Senate is host-comedian and former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III after a failed vice-presidential bid in 2022.
Also retaining a Senate seat is longtime actor-politician Lito Lapid, marking his third consecutive term and sixth overall. Content creator Dr. Willie Ong withdrew his Senate bid last February but still among the top 30.
“Star for All Seasons” Vilma Santos is set to make a political comeback as governor of Batangas, while her son with Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Ryan Christian Recto, won as representative of Lipa. However, her eldest son, Luis Manzano, fell short in his bid for vice governor. Their running mate, Mikee Morada—husband of celebrity vlogger Alex Gonzaga—succeeded in securing his first term as vice mayor.
Celebrity couple Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres both secured spots in Leyte’s 4th District race with Gomez returning to his congressional seat and Torres as mayor of Ormoc City.
In contrast, ex-couple Marjorie Barretto and Dennis Padilla failed to win council seats in Caloocan City. Barretto did not secure a spot as Caloocan’s first district councilor where she previously served the same position from previous years.
Former professional athlete and current Pasig City Vice Mayor Robert Vincent Jude “Dodot” Bautista Jaworski Jr. successfully secured another term in office, while Jeric Teng, also a pro basketball player, won his first term as councilor of Gumaca, Quezon. Their fellow basketball stars Danny Ildefonso and Dondon Hontiveros, however, failed to garner sufficient votes in their respective electoral bids.
Actor-turned-politician Ejay Falcon, the incumbent vice governor of Oriental Mindoro, failed in his bid to represent the province’s 2nd District in Congress.
Similarly, fellow celebrities also faced defeat at the polls: Marco Gumabao lost his congressional run in Camarines Sur’s 4th District; Aljur Abrenica was unsuccessful in his bid for councilor in Angeles City, Pampanga; Rommel Padilla fell short in his campaign for mayor of Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija; DJ Durano was defeated in his bid for mayor of Sogod, Cebu, while both Anjo Yllana and Emilio Garcia lost their respective races for vice mayor and mayor in Laguna.
Actresses Angelika dela Cruz, a former councilor in Malabon, was unable to make a political comeback while Ara Mina’s bid to return to politics in Quezon City failed to resonate with voters.
Meanwhile, Shamcey Supsup-Lee and Mocha Uson were unsuccessful in their respective campaigns for councilor positions in Pasig City and Manila.
On the other hand, Cai Cortez, Angelu de Leon, and Jaycee Parker were re-elected to local government positions in the 2025 midterm elections, securing councilor seats in Taytay, Rizal, Pasig City, and Angeles City, Pampanga, respectively.
Former actor Isko Moreno made his triumphant return to the Manila mayoral position, a race that included another actor Raymond Bagatsing and Tutok To Win Party-List representative Sam Verzosa, Frontrow co-founder and boyfriend of Rhian Ramos.
Moreno’s running mate, Chi Atienza, defeated incumbent vice-mayor and actor Yul Servo, who ran again with Honey Lacuna. His son Joaquin, also an actor, topped the race for councilor in the capital city’s first district.
In the fifth district of Quezon City, actor-politicians Alfred Vargas and Aiko Melendez won re-relection as councilors, while actor Enzo Pineda finished outside the six allocated seats.
Actor-politician Lou Veloso won a third consecutive term as councilor in Manila’s sixth district — a position he previously held from 1995 to 2004 and 2007 to 2013.
In landslide victory, actor Daniel Fernando won his third and final consecutive term as Bulacan governor with fellow actor Alex Castro as his vice governor again.
Former ABS-CBN reporter Sol Aragones, for her part, will be Laguna’s governor, defeating actor Dan Fernandez. Beauty queen Leren Bautista meanwhile won a councilor seat in Los Baños.
Former “It’s Showtime” director and incumbent councilor of Pililla, Rizal, Bobet Vidanes, unfortunately lost the municipality’s mayoral race.
Rapper Michael Pacquiao, the second son of the previously mentioned Manny, made the cut for the 12 councilor seats in General Santos City, while actor Arron Villaflor just sneaked in the four provincial board members seats in Tarlac province’s second district.
Also missing out on councilor seats were actress and former “Pinoy Big Brother” housemate Ali Forbes (Quezon City, 4th district), actor David Chua (Manila, 2nd district), and Wendell Ramos (Manila, 4th district).
Actor-turned-politician and former taekwondo champion Monsour del Rosario lost the vice-mayor race in Makati to the city’s 1st District Rep. Kid Peña, though del Rosario’s running mate and outgoing senator Nancy Binay beat her brother-in-law Luis Campos.
In Parañaque, actor-politician Jomari Yllana’s wife, Abby Viduya, and his younger brother, Ryan Yllana, both lost their councilor bids in the city’s first and second districts, respectively.
Successful though in Parañaque’s first district were Yeoj Marquez, oldest son of Alma Moreno and Joey Marquez, and Roselle Nava’s husband Allen Tan.
According to a report by Philstar.com, several celebrities who ran as party-list nominees are unlikely to secure seats in Congress based on the current results:
- Comedian Bayani Agbayani, second nominee of Tupad
- Actor Zanjoe Marudo, second nominee of ASAP NA
- Pageant veteran and content creator Wilbert Tolentino, first nominee of Ahon Mahirap – 86th, 123,093 (0.37%)
- Actor-turned-politician Jeremy Marquez, first nominee of Solo Parents
- Vlogger Norris John Okamoto, first nominee of Lingap – 139th, 30,625 (0.09%)
- Pageantry and modeling director Jonas Gaffud, third nominee of ARTE
