Maniobra returns not just to ask kung paano nga ba talaga gumagana ang pulitika sa likod ng kamera, but to point out what’s now plainly visible.
The 2025 midterm elections have just wrapped, and if the results tell us anything, it’s that all kinds of pagmamaniobra were in motion: Some were easy to predict; others shook political families to their core.
From the expected to the strange, from quiet wins to very public collapses, the map of power has just been redrawn.
In the Senate, Bong Go topped the race as expected. But Bam Aquino surprised everyone by landing in second place, despite lingering near the bottom of pre-election surveys. Kiko Pangilinan, long written off, climbed to fifth – a comeback few saw coming. The rest of the senatorial line-up felt like both a rerun and a reset, with familiar names reclaiming space.
Among the re-electionists were Bato dela Rosa, Pia Cayetano, and Imee Marcos. Returning veterans Panfilo Lacson, Tito Sotto, and Lito Lapid showed that in Philippine politics, comebacks are always on the table.
Only three newcomers made it through: Erwin Tulfo, Rodante Marcoleta, and Camille Villar. Of course, with a name like Villar – and Tulfo with already existing family members in the senate – “new” is a stretch.
In the realm of the unexpected, dynasties began to falter. In Las Piñas, Senator-turned-congressional hopeful Cynthia Villar lost her bid to a sitting city councilor, marking a rare defeat in a long-held family stronghold.
Cebu followed a similar pattern. Governor Gwen Garcia is trailing her challenger, while Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has already conceded—a quiet signal that local empires aren’t invincible after all.
In tighter races elsewhere, Manila saw Isko Moreno reclaim city hall, unseating former running mate and re-electionist Honey Lacuna in what feels like a rerun with much higher stakes. Over in Makati, Nancy Binay leads the mayoral race against her brother-in-law, Luis Campos, who also lost his congressional seat.
Even within political families, it seems to be a season of reckoning.
Among the ranks of the Mayors for Good Governance, the expected held steady. Vico Sotto remained firm in Pasig, while Baguio’s Mayor Benjie Magalong held his ground in a close fight against Congressman Mark Go.
These are the kinds of mayors who’ve built reputations outside traditional political machinery—and voters appear to have taken notice.
In the realm of the inevitable down south, predictability returned. Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte swept the Davao mayoralty with over 400,000 votes.
This leaves only one strange question hanging in the air: how exactly does one run a city while detained at The Hague?
