Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto wins third term by a landslide

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Sotto's Giting ng Pasig slate lands a straight victory, including Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski and Representative Roman Romulo

PASIG, Philippines – Reelectionist Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto has won a third and final term, defeating by a landslide three other candidates including businesswoman Sarah Discaya, who posed what had seemed to be a considerable challenge to his reform and good governance agenda.

Sotto received 376,054 votes, while Discaya received 30,729 votes, according to partial, unofficial results as of 9:54 pm based on data sourced from the Comelec Media Server. Pasig has 463,885 registered voters. The other candidates were Cory Palma with 326, and Eagle Ayaon with 323 votes.

It’s shaping up to be a straight victory for Sotto’s ticket Giting ng Pasig. Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski clinched a second term with 255,012 votes. Pasig Lone District Representative Roman Romulo also won a third and final term with 305,339 votes. Giting’s candidates for city councilor are poised to win all 12 seats — equally divided among two local districts — with reelectionists Simon Romulo Tantoco leading in District 1 with 85,429 votes, and Angelu de Leon in District 2 with 159,832 votes.

Romulo defeated — also by a landslide — lawyer Ian Sia, who drew controversy and got disqualified by the Commission on Elections 2nd Division over sexist remarks about solo parents. Sia got 14,470 votes.

The results strongly affirm Sotto’s reformist agenda, which Discaya tried to portray as ineffectual.

Under Sotto, the local government tightened its procurement processes, leading to savings of at least P1 billion yearly, which helped grow the city’s budget from P10 billion in 2019 to P22.4 billion in 2025. The salvaged funds were channelled into social services and the construction of a new city hall complex to replace the current condemned structures.

Discaya had mounted a massive charity drive that began in mid-2024, long before the election season. It was widely perceived among Pasigueños as part of her political campaign. She and her husband Curlee Discaya own St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corporation, which was the number one contractor during the administration of Rodrigo Duterte.

Discaya had criticized Sotto for “focusing on good governance” and failing to meet people’s needs, especially the poor. She promised big infrastructure projects and continual aid to residents. Critics questioned her possible conflict of interest as a contractor landing a government post, but her camp denied this.

Discaya also benefited from disinformation and coordinated, inauthentic posts on social media. An analysis by The Nerve, Rappler’s sister company, of relevant Facebook posts between March 1 and April 8 found that “social media was being exploited to support Discaya, using fake accounts, coordinated posting, and negative campaigning, while support for Sotto appeared to be largely organic.”

To counter disinformation, Sotto and Giting campaigned vigorously to inform residents about his administration’s accomplishments. He warned of a backslide into corrupt patronage politics should his opponents win.

Sotto drew national attention when he first became mayor in 2019, supplanting the Eusebio clan that had then ruled the city for 27 years. Sotto promised a bureaucratic spring cleaning to break from “old and tired” traditional politics that had held back the city’s progress.

Sotto’s efforts had earned him a citation from the US State Department as an “anti-corruption champion” in 2021. Pasig, under Sotto, won a special award from the World Health Organization in September 2024 for its successful programs on public health and participatory governance.

For this final term, Sotto promised further expansion of social services, and further institutionalization of reforms. His goal, Sotto told Rappler in past interviews, is to make it “easier to be good and much harder to be corrupt” in the local government after his tenure. – Rappler.com