Benjamin Magalong secures third term as Baguio City mayor

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Benjamin Magalong's 2025 reelection agenda included environmental sustainability, climate resilience, youth empowerment, and economic recovery

MANILA, Philippines – Incumbent Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong is poised to win a third term, based on partial and unofficial results from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, May 12.

The partial, unofficial results sourced from the Comelec’s Media Server showed Magalong garnering at least 50,640 votes, based on 76.29% of precincts transmitting as of 10:14 pm.

Magalong, a retired police general, defeated his closest rival, Baguio City Representative Mark Go, who has received at least 40,548 votes. Go also formally conceded to Magalong on Monday night.

Faustino Olowan, meanwhile, won his reelection bid as Baguio City vice mayor with 79,830 votes.

Magalong first entered politics in 2019 as city mayor, succeeding Mauricio Domogan. Magalong ran and won his reelection bid during the 2022 polls. 

He spent nearly 40 years in the Philippine National Police and retired in 2016 before joining the local government. He served in the elite Special Action Force unit and led the Operations Battalion from 1997 to 2002. In 2006, he worked with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and later became chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

He also served as the national contact tracing czar for COVID-19 pandemic response under then-president Rodrigo Duterte. 

Magalong’s seven-point core agenda for the 2025 elections focuses on environmental sustainability, climate resilience, and urban regeneration, alongside empowering the youth, promoting economic recovery, and ensuring smart city management and good governance.

As mayor, Magalong is in favor of reviewing the revised Baguio City charter. In March 2023, he admitted that Republic Act No. 11689, passed during the 18th Congress to revise the city charter, fell short in addressing the issues brought forward by different sectors.

In December 2023, incumbent Baguio City Councilor Mylen Yaranon filed a graft complaint against Magalong for the alleged anomalous purchase of a 6.5-hectare property for nearly P100 million. She asked the Office of the Ombudsman to suspend and remove the mayor from public office.

Magalong also defended Baguio City’s time deposits and high-yield savings accounts after the Commission on Audit found that the local government held P4.43 billion in time deposits and HYSA across 24 accounts. – with reports from Mia Magdalena Fokno and Jose Emmanuel Thayer/ Rappler.com