Francis Tolentino loses bid for second Senate term 

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Tolentino fashioned himself as a legislator who stood up against China and its bullying in the West Philippine Sea

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Tolentino lost in his bid for a second Senate term, based on the partial and unofficial results from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of 11:37 pm on Monday, May 12. 

Tolentino was first elected to the Senate in the 2019 midterm elections, after losing his first-ever bid in the 2016 presidential elections.

Based on the latest partial, unofficial numbers from Comelec, Tolentino is ranked 25 among senatorial bets in the 2025 polls. Only 12 Senate seats are up for grabs in the 2025 midterm elections.

He ran as a candidate of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas in the 2025 elections. He was also an administration candidate in 2019, under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration slate.

Since the start of the official campaign period, Tolentino had struggled with his preference numbers, often ranking just outside the list of statistically probable winners in various surveys.  

Fellow Alyansa bets, especially those who topped preference polls, had doubled down on campaigning for survey laggards like Tolentino in the homestretch of the campaign.

On the campaign trail, Tolentino pitched himself as a candidate who stood against China and its bullying in the West Philippine Sea. As chairperson of the Senate’s Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones, Tolentino spearheaded the passage of the Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sealanes Act, twin laws that operationalized the 2016 Arbitral Ruling.

He pivoted harder into that message towards the homestretch of the campaign, and even called for Senate probes into suspicions of Chinese espionage and even interference in the elections. 

Tolentino once served as political adviser to former president Duterte, who, ironically, tried to pivot the Philippines towards China. Marcos, in contrast, brought Manila back closer to traditional allies including the United States.

Before joining the Senate, Tolentino was chairperson of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and mayor of Tagaytay City. – Rappler.com