Quick Squares: 2025 Manila city council elections
The Lacuna-Moreno political split also shook up the 'konseho' of the nation's capital
Hello, mga kababayan!
Grouping all 82 governor’s election contests in 2025 into nifty categories was already a whopper on its own. My follow-up post to that, coming real soon, would be “whopper-er”: categorizing 254 distinct races for the seats allotted to district congressmen in the House of Representatives.
So I took a breather… and a detour to a smaller and more local level of representation: the konseho or legislative council, formally known as the Sangguniang Panlungsod for cities and the Sangguniang Bayan for municipalities.
Every election, voters choose at most 6 to 12 names on the ballot (depending on how many council seats are assigned to their area) to send to the konseho. Much like the national Congress, the konseho drafts ordinances and passes the local government’s annual budget, among other duties. Much like the dynamics at the national level, a harmonious link between the mayor and the city council is key.
One of the most interesting races in the upcoming 2025 polls is the city council race in the nation’s capital, Manila, where a seismic political shift has taken place.
The contest for 36 elective city council seats – 6 for each of the city’s 6 districts – is somewhat shaped by the mayoral race, where the frontrunners are incumbent Mayor Maria Sheilah “Honey” Lacuna (of local party Asenso Manileño) and former mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso (of Aksyon Demokratiko party).
Moreno mounted a comeback bid after failing to capture the presidency three years ago. The plot twist: Lacuna was Moreno’s running mate and eventual vice mayor when he led the city from 2019 to 2022. Also in this year’s 11-person mayoral contest are Tutok to Win party list Representative Sam Verzosa, businessman Michael Say, actor and political family scion Raymond Bagatsing (running under the President’s party, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas or PFP), and six other bets.
The Lacuna-Moreno split also shook up the city council. Almost all of them were part of Lacuna’s ticket in 2022, back when Isko and Honey were still magka-alyado. Now that the duo politically “broke up”, so did the council: around half of its members joined the minority bloc around July 2024, later declared support for Moreno, and joined Aksyon for the 2025 elections.
With the battle lines now drawn, both Lacuna and Moreno aim to gain more city council seats as they convince voters to “vote straight” or choose all councilor picks in their ticket. This may also be a chance for the candidates in the tickets of Verzosa and Bagatsing as well as for independent bets to break through by garnering enough votes to make it to the “Magic 6” in each district.
Here’s some “quick squares” or a graphic on the Manila city council race in 2025:
(The graphic will be updated in a new post after the election results come in.)
Vying for 36 elective seats are a combined 136 candidates for councilor on the ballot, although one (online personality Rosemarie “Rosmar Tan” Pamulaklakin) has already withdrawn her candidacy in the 1st district, while the reelection bid of 2nd district Councilor Darwin Sia (Aksyon) is in question after the Commission on Elections cancelled his candidacy filing. (Comelec said Sia can still campaign while his appeal is ongoing.)
Note that both Asenso and Aksyon don’t have a full 36-person late: Asenso only fielded 30 bets overall (with just two in the 5th district and 5 each in the 3rd and 6th), while Aksyon was one seat short with a total of 35 (or 6 in all except the 3rd district).
Verzosa listed only 15 candidates for councilor in four districts, while Bagatsing had only 9 bets in three districts. The rest are either independents or from other parties.
Some 25 incumbent councilors are running for reelection: 13 from Asenso and 12 from Aksyon. Nine councilors have reached their three-term limit, but two among them are running for representative. Coincidentally, both are from the 4th district: Luisito Chua (independent) and Joel T. Villanueva (Aksyon).
The remaining two incumbent councilors are not term-limited, but also chose to run for Congress, both under Aksyon: 2nd-term 3rd district Councilor Apple Nieto-Rodriguez and 1st-term 6th district Councilor Luis Uy.
Around eight candidates are relatives of incumbents, with 5 running under Asenso and 3 under Aksyon.
Which party will have a majority of seats sa konseho ng Maynila after the 2025 polls? Let’s see!
How about Quick Squares for other areas, you might ask? Kung may panahon pa, I’m cooking up something for maybe one or two city councils in Metro Manila na mainit din ang labanan, plus a special piece for a city council race that’s close to home. Abangan!
A note to my dear readers: Dahil hindi ako Manileño, feel free to check my work ah. Just send a chat or DM. I will promptly update this post as needed. 🙂
#ODIBa!