Former senator and senatorial candidate Kiko Pangilinan secured major endorsements in the final leg of his campaign rallies and caravan after his Senate bid received huge boosts of support from vote-rich provinces and cities.
In the last two weeks of the campaign period, the former senator’s candidacy was backed by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia, Cavite Board Member and gubernatorial candidate Abeng Remulla, and Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) Kumander Bravo (Abdullah Macapaar) and Mohagher Iqbal.
He was also endorsed by Cebu 3rd District Rep. Pablo John Garcia, Dasmariñas City Mayor Jenny Barzaga, and vice gubernatorial candidate Ram Revilla.
Cebu and Cavite are key battlegrounds in the 2025 midterm elections, with Cavite’s more than 2.4 million registered voters, second only to Cebu with over 3.4 million voters, out of the 68.4 million registered voters in the country.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), Quezon City stands out with 1.4 registered voters, followed by Manila at 1.14 million registered voters. These are the only cities in the region that have more than a million voters.
The former senator’s supporters also attended separate rallies in Cebu and General Santos City, with Pangilinan’s family—wife Sharon and nephew Donny, among the most popular of the brood—present to woo voters.
He had a homecoming in Pampanga province, too, in a rally held there to showcase his and Sharon’s Kapampangan roots.
There, he reminisced about his childhood days when his father used to bring all nine of the Pangilinan siblings to Pampanga for vacation, and appealed to Cabalens to support a fellow Kapampangan in this year’s polls.
Another big boost to the former senator’s candidacy were the endorsements from Iqbal and Kumander Bravo, both influential figures in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Pangilinan finished off his sorties with the Luzon Caravan that brought him to Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan on May 8, Tarlac and Pampanga on May 9, and Bulacan and Quezon City on May 10.
In Ilocos Sur, he stood atop a pick-up truck to talk to his supporters, urging them to campaign for him, and met afterward with former Ilocos Sur governor Chavit Singson.
Further courting Ilocandia votes, he paid courtesy visits to Mayor Gary Pinzon and Vice Mayor Henry Bacurnay Jr. before spending time with his supporters in a local restaurant there.
While it was not the first time he barnstormed Pangasinan, he brought his Luzon Caravan there and received the blessings from Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Soc Villegas at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Dagupan City.
Pangilinan also returned to Tarlac, where he was earlier endorsed by Rep. Christian Yap and local governments officials of Tarlac City.
Supporters welcomed the former senator at the welcome arc in San Manuel, Tarlac before he proceeded to the MC Plaza and at the Capas Municipal Hall.
This morning, he made it a point to pass by Plaridel, Bulacan to woo voters there, before proceeding to the Villa Verde Subdivision in Brgy. Sta. Monica, Quezon City where a send-off rally was held, followed by an endorsement from Belmonte and some local city officials.
In his speech, Pangilinan shared about the city’s role in molding his political life as he started there as a city councilor in 1988 before running and winning in three Senate terms.
On the last day of the campaign period, the former senator looked back at the past 90 days, confident that he has done all he can to reach out to voters and optimistic that last-minute decisions will deliver him back to the Senate.