Pinklawan candidates score big in 2025 polls

The 2025 midterm elections saw a significant shift in political landscape, with prominent "pinklawan" candidates winning senatorial and party-list seats, defying many pre-election survey predictions.

Unlike the "Otso Diretso" bloc's complete loss in the 2019 elections, four key "pinklawan" candidates secured victories: Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan in the Senate, and Chel Diokno and Leila de Lima as nominees for the Akbayan and Mamamayang Liberal party lists, respectively.

Heidi Mendoza also achieved an unexpected high ranking with 8.7 million votes, surpassing notable figures like Willie Revillame and Senator Francis Tolentino.

The Akbayan party list, with its first nominee Chel Diokno, achieved a historic victory by topping the party-list race, securing 2.7 million votes and three seats.

Analysts attribute this electoral success to the increased participation of Gen Z and Millennial voters, who now constitute a larger and more influential bloc of the electorate.

Chel Diokno highlighted the changing voter demographic, noting that Gen Z voters increased from 11% in 2022 to 25% in the 2025 elections.

Perci Cendaña of Akbayan further explained that many young individuals who volunteered for the "pink wave" in 2022 were first-time voters in 2025, contributing to the wave's success.