Quick Squares: City councils in Metro Manila after 2025 elections
Some mayors are seen to enjoy full support from the "konseho" for their agenda in the next 3 years, while some might face resistance from councilors and vice mayors in opposing parties
Hello, mga kababayan!
In Metro Manila, the mayoral contests in the 2025 elections were largely won by reelectionists or their relatives or handpicked successors, save for a handful of flips and surprising results like in the nation’s capital Manila, and in the cities of Makati, Marikina, and Las Piñas.
How about the races for seats in the city council or Sangguniang Panlungsod (as well as the municipal council or Sangguniang Bayan for the town of Pateros)?
Like how the President and the Congress should work hand-in-hand to pass laws and enact their agenda at the national level, so should the mayor and the council at the local level.
Thus, it would be favorable for a mayor to have all of his allies elected to city council, if not a majority of them. The count includes the vice mayor, who will preside over the council, and the two non-partisan ex-officio seats.
Otherwise, the mayor might face resistance from councilors (and possibly the vice mayor) who were part of his main opponent’s ticket or ran as independent bets.
So, did voters in the National Capital Region heed their mayoral bet’s request to “vote straight” and choose all of the candidates for councilor in their ticket?
The latest Quick Squares chart below shows the composition of the konseho in each locality after the 2025 elections. The blue squares represent the candidates for councilor in the winning mayor’s ticket. The red squares are the candidates endorsed by the 2nd-place mayor. The grey squares stand for candidates in third-party tickets or independent bets.
In 6 cities, all of the mayor-elect’s councilor picks won.
In 3 of them – Mandaluyong, Navotas, and Valenzuela – the mayor was unopposed and their ticket was the only full and competitive one in the council race.
In Muntinlupa City, the 1Munti councilor slate of unopposed reelectionist Mayor Ruffy Biazon faced off against the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) slate of reelectionist Vice Mayor Artemio Simundac. In the end, all of Biazon’s 8 picks in each of the 2 districts won.
(Simundac and Biazon’s running-mate, Poblacion punong barangay and ex-officio councilor Allen Ampaya, both lost the vice mayoral race to former councilor Stephanie Teves.)
The cities of Pasig and Taguig saw two full tickets from mayor down to councilor going head-to-head. But voters rewarded Mayor Vico Sotto and Mayor Lani Cayetano with a 12-0 win and a 24-0 victory, respectively, at the city council.
Councilors from opposition, independents
In the rest of the localities, candidates from opposing tickets and some independents broke through and garnered seats in the council, thanks to voters who believed in them. I’ll be listing the results in this category by increasing share of council seats won by the winning mayor:
Pateros
Only 3 candidates picked by former vice mayor and Mayor-elect Gerald German (PFP) garnered seats (2 in the 1st district, 1 in the 2nd district). From the slate of his opponent, Councilor Ronaldo Miranda of the National Unity Party (NUP): only 1, in the 1st district. The remaining 8 seats, and thus the majority of the council, went to bets in the ticket of… Taguig City Mayor Cayetano.
Pateros is part of the Taguig-Pateros congressional district. Cayetano’s TLC ticket under the Nacionalista Party (NP) banner didn’t have a candidate for Pateros mayor, but backed Representative Ricardo Cruz Jr.’s reelection bid. It also had a bet for vice mayor: the reelectionist Carlo Santos, who won a little over half of the total votes. Three names from their slate in the 1st district and 5 in the 2nd district won council seats.
Makati City
Senator and Mayor-elect Nancy Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) might have her work cut out for her in the next 3 years. Only 4 of her councilor picks in the 1st district and 3 in the 2nd district made it in the winning circle.
The rest of the seats went to 4 names in the 1st district and 5 bets in the 2nd district from the Makatizens United ticket of defeated mayoral candidate Representative Luis Campos. He is the husband of Nancy’s sister, outgoing Mayor Abby Binay, who lost her bid for senator. (Rappler has more about the new Makati City Council.)
An additional complication: Nancy Binay’s running-mate, former congressman Monsour del Rosario, lost to Campos’ running-mate, Representative Kid Peña, who returns as Vice Mayor.
Las Piñas City
The set of elected councilors is an even 6-6 split between the camp of Vice Mayor and Mayor-elect April Aguilar (Nationalist People’s Coalition or NPC) and cousin, ex-councilor Carlo Aguilar (NP), who was endorsed by the powerful Villar clan.
Outgoing Mayor Imelda Aguilar is now Vice Mayor and the city council’s presiding officer, after a successful switch of positions with daughter April.
Manila
Isko Moreno’s successful mayoral return after defeating incumbent Mayor (and erstwhile running-mate) Honey Lacuna of Asenso Manileño party was accompanied by his Aksyon party retaking the majority in the council, with 23 seats. Before the 2025 polls, Aksyon only had around 17 seats. Angela Lei "Chi" Atienza also won as Vice Mayor in a landslide.
Asenso won 12 council seats, with the 2nd and 3rd districts still giving them strong support. A lone independent bet, Mark Ryan Ponce, remained in the 4th district. (Rappler again wrote about the now-Aksyon-led Manila City Council.)
Marikina City
Rep. Marjorie Ann Teodoro (NUP), the wife of outgoing Mayor Marcy Teodoro, fought off a strong challenge from her congressional colleague, Rep. Stella Quimbo (Lakas-CMD), for mayor. Winning alongside Teodoro are 10 councilors from her ticket, 5 from each district.
However, Quimbo’s running-mate Del de Guzman will preside over the council again as Vice Mayor, and joining him are 6 councilors and ticketmates.
Malabon City
Reelectionist Mayor Jeannie Sandoval (NP) triumphed in her competitive race against Rep. Josephine Lacson-Noel (NPC). Councilor Edward Nolasco also won as Vice Mayor, defeating closest challenger and Lacson-Noel’s running-mate, barangay captain and actress Angelika dela Cruz (NPC).
In the city council race, 9 candidates from Sandoval’s ticket – all 6 from the 1st district and 3 from the 2nd – got the win. One from Rep. Lacson-Noel’s slate eked out a victory, as well as two other candidates: political scion Jose Lorenzo Oreta (NUP) who topped the race in the 2nd district, and Romualdo Cunanan III (PDP-Laban), son of losing vice mayoral bet Diosdado Cunanan.
Parañaque City
1st District Rep. Edwin Olivarez (Lakas-CMD) successfully switched places with his brother, outgoing Mayor Eric Olivarez. 12 councilor candidates from his slate also triumphed.
However, Florencio Bernabe III (PFP) mounted a strong challenge for Vice Mayor, denying reelection to Joan Villafuerte (Lakas-CMD). Bernabe brought with him 1 councilor in the 1st district (Shannin Olivarez) and 2 councilors in the 2nd district (Maritess de Asis and independent bet Vincent Kenneth “Binky” Favis). Former councilor Raquel Gabriel, who ran independently, was the topnotcher in the 1st district.
Caloocan City
Mayor Dale Gonzalo Malapitan (NP) survived his reelection bid against former senator Antonio Trillanes III (Aksyon). Likewise, Vice Mayor Anna Karina Teh will remain as city council presiding officer, besting political scion and former councilor Christopher “PJ” Malonzo.
5 of Malapitan’s councilor picks in the 1st district, 4 in the 2nd district, and all 6 in the 3rd district also netted wins. Only 1 from Trillanes’ ticket in the 1st district, Jacqueline “Kaye” Nubla, entered the winning circle.
Meanwhile, 2 candidates from the slate of former (and possibly returning) 2nd District lawmaker Edgar Erice (LP) will be joining them in the city council: Alexander Mangasar and Naomi Charmaine Quimpo.
Quezon City
The victories of largely unopposed Mayor Joy Belmonte and Vice Mayor Gian Sotto, both from Serbisyo sa Bayan Party (SBP), also resulted in 32 seats going to their party.
4 candidates – one each in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th district – pushed out SBP bets in the winning circle. 3 of them were relatives of former lawmakers, some of whom also sought to reclaim their House seat in 2025, while 1 was young lawyer Christoffer Allan Liquigan who won a seat in the 3rd district.
Pasay City
Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano (PFP) fended off a challenge from popular Councilor Editha “Wowee” Manguerra (Aksyon) for the city’s top post. In the vice mayor race, her nephew Councilor Mark Anthony Calixto (Lakas-CMD) also got the win.
Her party also got all seats in the council except for one, which went to Justine Jane “Jhaz” Advincula (PFP), daughter of a former councilor, in the first district.
San Juan City
Mayor Francisco Javier Zamora (PFP) remained a force in the city, easily winning reelection. His running-mate, Vice Mayor Jose Angelo Rafael Agcaoili, now earned a full term.
His ticket for city council almost got all seats, if not for the successful comeback bid of ex-councilor Victor Reyes (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino or PMP) in the 1st district.
Side note: As always, feel free to check my work! I’m a DM, email, or comment away!
#ODIBa!