How Cebu’s 3.4M voters shape 2025 Senate race outcome

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu has once again proven its electoral significance after helping propel several candidates to the Senate in the 2025 midterm elections.

How Cebu’s 3.4M voters shape 2025 Senate race outcome

With more than 3.4 million registered voters, Cebu remains the most vote-rich province in the Philippines, and its highly urbanized cities, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City, played a key role in determining the national outcome.

In particular, Cebu voters gave large margins to former senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who topped the Senate race nationwide with 26,912,697 votes.

He led the senatorial count in all three urban centers: 390,236 votes in Cebu City, 168,502 in Lapu-Lapu, and 140,874 in Mandaue.

READ: Elections in Cebu yield interesting results so far

Go’s party-mate, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, placed third overall with 20,595,325 votes, also securing strong second-place finishes in Cebu City (343,970), Lapu-Lapu (153,535), and Mandaue (122,231).

Bam Aquino, who returned to the Senate after placing second nationally with 20,895,171 votes, had a mixed performance in Cebu.

He landed fourth in Cebu City with 216,425 votes, tenth in Lapu-Lapu (65,156), and fifth in Mandaue (76,215).

Independent candidate Rodante Marcoleta, who ranked sixth nationwide with 15,140,342 votes, performed well across all three cities.

He placed fifth in Cebu City (215,248), fourth in Lapu-Lapu (99,330), and fourth in Mandaue (76,287).

READ: LIST: Magic 12 senators based on official nat’l certificate of canvass

Other senators-elect also drew significant votes from Cebu. Erwin Tulfo, who ranked fourth overall with 17,065,384 votes, received 172,816 in Cebu City (12th), 61,083 in Lapu-Lapu (11th), and 54,747 in Mandaue (12th).

Kiko Pangilinan placed fifth nationally with 15,290,525 votes. In Cebu, he received 173,917 in Cebu City (11th), 49,472 in Lapu-Lapu (16th), and 58,746 in Mandaue (11th).

Ping Lacson, Tito Sotto, Pia Cayetano, Camille Villar, Lito Lapid, and Imee Marcos completed the Senate’s “Magic 12” and also garnered varying levels of support from Cebu.

Villar, who ranked tenth nationwide with 13,578,736 votes, performed particularly well in the province, placing sixth in Cebu City (201,121 votes), fifth in Lapu-Lapu (89,739), and ninth in Mandaue (62,769).

Though not all senators-elect topped local rankings, many of them received six-digit vote totals from at least one of Cebu’s major cities, contributing significantly to their national tallies.

Observers noted that Cebu once again demonstrated its political weight. Known as a bellwether province, Cebu’s voter preferences often reflect national outcomes.

The saying “who Cebu votes for, wins” once again proved accurate in this year’s Senate race.

According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec-7), Cebu registered 3,407,780 voters in 2025, making it the only province to cross the three million mark. It is followed by Cavite (2.4 million), Bulacan (2.1 million), Pangasinan (2.1 million), Laguna (2.1 million), and Negros Occidental (2 million).

The rest of Central Visayas, composed of Cebu and Bohol, also remains a vote-rich region despite the official transfer of Negros Oriental and Siquijor to the Negros Island Region.

Comelec-7 Regional Director Francisco Pobe confirmed in 2024 that Cebu’s large voting population keeps Central Visayas politically significant.

“In terms of voting population, Central Visayas remains among the largest,” Pobe said in Cebuano. “We may have fewer provinces now, but we still have a large number of voters.”

Nationwide, there are 68.43 million registered voters for the 2025 midterm elections. Cebu’s influence, particularly in national positions such as the Senate, continues to be a key factor in determining election outcomes. /clorenciana