Bato Dela Rosa wins Senate seat, dedicates win to Duterte

Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, Senator-elect Rodante Marcoleta, and re-electionist Senator Bong Go, all allies of former President Rodrigo Duterte, secured Senate seats in the 2025 midterm elections.

Dela Rosa dedicated his senatorial win to Duterte, stating that the over 20 million votes he received were protest votes against the former President's arrest.

Duterte is currently detained at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of crimes against humanity.

Dela Rosa also thanked Vice President Sara Duterte for her continued encouragement and motivation.

This will be Dela Rosa's second and final term as senator, having served his first term from 2019.

He ran under the PDP-Laban party and was supported by former President Duterte.

Dela Rosa's platform included prioritizing public order by combating illegal drugs and criminality, and reinstating the death penalty for high-level drug traffickers.

Previously, Dela Rosa headed Duterte's war on drugs as the chief of the Philippine National Police from 2016 to 2018.