Marcos on Alyansa bets: We hoped for more but we live to fight again

With six of the 11 Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas candidates in the Magic 12, the coalition considers the results of midterm elections a victory. — File photo

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. hoped that the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas got better results during the 2025 midterm elections, but notes that the administration will live to fight another day.

In his short speech at Alyansa’s thanksgiving party for the media at the slate’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City, Marcos said that it is now time to put the politics aside.

“We all wish we had better results, but you know, we live to fight another day.  But now it’s time, I think, to put all the politics aside, it’s time to put all of the issues that were raised during the election, and only talk about not political issues but developmental issues — healthcare issues, education issues, agricultural issues, supply issues, all of these things,” Marcos said.

“Sana naman, ako lagi kong binibilang ang araw na natitira sa term ko, at kailangan matapos natin ‘yong mga nasimulan natin,” he added.

(I hope you could help, I have been counting the days left under my term, and we need to finish all the things that we have started.)

According to Marcos, the media was a vital component in ensuring that Alyansa’s platform was covered.  For the three remaining years of his term, the President said that he wants to ask for the media’s help again in achieving the goals of his administration.

“Alam ko naman ang ginawa ninyo, kung minsan hindi nakikita ‘yong inyong trabaho, pero alam namin ‘yan, kami na sanay kami sa ganitong klaseng trabaho, eh alam namin na napaka-importante ng inyong ginagawa.  The media sector of our campaign was very successful, and I think that we were able to put out and occupy the narrative space very, very well as a matter of fact,” he said.

(I know your efforts, sometimes people do not appreciate what you do, but we who have been in this job for a long time, we know how important your work is.  The media sector of our campaign was very successful, and I think that we were able to put out and occupy the narrative space very, very well as a matter of fact.)

“So, that’s what I will ask for you to help me with in the coming three years.  I know that you will once again, as you did before, do a very, very good job and make a success at whatever it is that we are trying to do.  But once again, most importantly for tonight, I’d like to thank everyone,” he added..

Six of Alyansa’s 11 candidates made it into the Magic 12 as Senators-elect Erwin Tulfo, Panfilo Lacson, Vicente Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Camille Villar, and Lito Lapid.  However, there were concerns that Alyansa underperformed, as pre-election surveys showed that either eight or nine of the slate’s candidates would win.

Days before the elections, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo was the front-runner, holding the top spot with 45 percent of the respondents’ votes.  He finished the race in  fourth spot.

Senator Bong Go of the Duterte-backed Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) is at the top of the Magic 12, but the surveys predicted a tie at the top between Go and Tulfo.  However, Tulfo according to the final tally is behind former Senator Bam Aquino who was not even part of surveys’ winning circle, and another PDP stalwart in Senator Ronald dela Rosa.

READ: Erwin Tulfo leads final SWS survey on Senate race 

Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III meanwhile was poised to be ranked third, but instead, the tally saw him slipping down to eighth.

Senator Lito Lapid was fourth, and now he is 11th, while Makati Mayor Abby Binay and Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla — who were holding the seventh and 11th spots in the SWS survey — are out of the Magic 12, ranking 15th and 14th instead.

READ: Senate race: Go leads early count; Aquino, Pangilinan in 

Despite these, Alyansa campaign manager and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said that Alyansa still considers the results of the 2025 senatorial race as a vote of confidence for the administration as most of their candidates are poised to win Senate seats.

READ: Alyansa considers poll results ‘vote of confidence’ for admin 

Tiangco recently said that the poor performance of the Alyansa slate led to the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.  However, several lawmakers have noted that most of the candidates for the House of Representatives who signed — and are critical of the Dutertes — won their reelection bids. /jpv