Faces of the News: May 18, 2025
Nancy Binay
To this day, former Vice President Jejomar Binay is being proven correct after he described Makati City years ago as “Binay territory.” His daughter, outgoing Sen. Nancy Binay, won as the next Makati mayor in the May 12 polls, becoming the third child of Jejomar to take over City Hall.
In the latest chapter of the long-running political drama within the family, Nancy bested her own brother-in-law, Makati Rep. Luis Campos, husband of outgoing mayor Abby, for the post. With Nancy’s victory, she will also be following in the footsteps of her father, her mother Elenita and her brother Junjun, who all previously held the city’s top post since the late 1980s.
In defense of her family’s practically unbroken reign, Nancy said: “At the end of the day, we get elected. Our fate does not depend on us, it depends on the voters.” While Nancy’s candidacy was supported by most of her family, the mayoral race has also renewed the rift between her and Abby, who of course campaigned for her husband. As the turnover rites near, Nancy said she might finally have a chance to talk to her sister again. —GILLIAN VILLANUEVA
Chel Diokno
After losing in the 2022 senatorial race, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno changed course and is now assured of a seat in the House of Representatives.
The Akbayan party list group, where Diokno is the first nominee, got the most number of votes among party list groups in the May 12 elections. Akbayan will be entitled to the maximum of three House seats, thanks to its performance in the balloting.
The 64-year-old Diokno said he was extremely shocked—”shookt na shookt”—by the victory, citing the hard work put in by his campaign team despite its limited resources. He has yet to take his oath as a lawmaker, but Diokno, along with fellow presumptive congresswoman Leila de Lima, will be joining the 11-member House prosecution team in the coming Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Diokno said Akbayan was “excited” to work with other progressive blocs in the House, especially in pushing for legislation addressing “gut issues,” like the rising cost of living, corruption, and the crises in the education and health sectors. —DEXTER CABALZA
BINI
Filipino pop sensation BINI has been capturing their country’s music-savvy imagination since the octet was formed in 2019 through ABS-CBN’s Star Hunt Academy. The collective talent of these young artists has broken through as well in the international scene, and not just because of the Biniverse World Tour.
On Thursday, BINI, from the Filipino term “binibini” (young girl), was recognized in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30 Asia” list, joining around 300 other honorees doing their region proud and excelling in their fields, from entertainment to artificial intelligence and social impact.
In their case, Gwen Apuli, Aiah Arceta, Sheena Catacutan, Mikha Lim, Maloi Ricalde, Jhoanna Robles, Stacey Sevilleja and Colet Vergara blossomed in popularity last year, when hit songs “Pantropiko,” “Salamin, Salamin” and “Huwag Muna Tayong Umuwi” began making rounds in social media.
The girls recently surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify, making them one of the most successful Filipino artists in recent history and a genuinely alternative competition to established genres like K-pop. —MEG J. ADONIS
Rodante Marcoleta
Sagip Party-list List Rep. Rodante Marcoleta is now a first-time senator, one of the 12 proclaimed on Saturday by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
His campaign apparently received a major boost down the stretch in the form of an endorsement from his own church, the influential Iglesia ni Cristo, which backed seven other senatorial candidates.
Marcoleta, who ranked sixth in the partial and unofficial tallies released by the media and election watchdogs, earlier this week called on Comelec to proclaim him already, saying 97.23 percent of the election returns at the time had decisively placed him in the winning circle with more than 14.89 million votes.
But Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia ruled out holding a partial proclamation, saying the poll body, acting as the National Board of Canvassers, had just canvassed a record-breaking number of certificates.
The big day finally came on Saturday for Marcoleta, largely known to voters as a staunch defender of Vice President Sara Duterte at the House when her public spending came under intense scrutiny in highly charged committee hearings. —JEROME ANING
Isko Moreno
Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso finally reclaimed the throne of Manila, garnering more than 530,000 votes, more than double the figures for his rivals. Defeated incumbent Honey Lacuna, Moreno’s vice mayor from 2019 to 2022, conceded the election even before Moreno’s proclamation.
The two allies became rivals after Lacuna said she felt betrayed by Moreno’s decision to run this year. She had claimed earlier that he promised he would retire from politics after his defeat in the 2022 presidential race.
Because politics is addition, Moreno has reached out to Lacuna and now promises to make Manila “great again.” Moreno’s comeback may not have the PR juggernaut that marked his first term in 2019, when he created the impression that he could transform the capital and thereby be qualified enough to change the country.
Followers and critics alike may not believe he has abandoned that dream despite his 2022 debacle. That experience may after all, be deemed a rehearsal for yet another try in the national arena, which will depend on how he wields his recaptured mayoralty. —JACOB LAZARO
