MANILA, Philippines – Five senators are set to “graduate” in 2025 after serving two consecutive terms or 12 years in office.
Article VI, Section 4 of the Constitution states that “no senator shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.”
Unlike lawmakers at the House of Representatives, half or 12 of the 24 senators are retained every midterm elections.
“The purpose of the continuity of the life of the Senate is intended to encourage the maintenance of Senate policies as well as guarantee that there will be experienced members who can help and train newcomers in the discharge of their duties,” says the Senate website.
On May 2, 1987, the first set of 24 senators was elected and served for only five years.
According to the Senate website, “Of the senators elected in 1992, the first 12 obtaining the highest number of votes served for the full term of six years expiring in 1998, and the last 12 served only three years and ended in 1995.”
The 12 senators elected in 1995 served a full term of six years, or until year 2001. Those elected in 1998 also had a full term of six years. Thereafter, each senator elected serves full six years.
In the current roster of senators, Cynthia Villar, Grace Poe, Nancy Binay, and Aquilino Pimentel III will end their term on June 30, 2025. Sonny Angara was supposedly included in the list of “graduating” senators but he was appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as education secretary even before his term expired. Angara formally assumed the position on July 19. He resigned as senator on July 16.
What’s next for the four other senators?
Villar is eyeing a return to Las Piñas politics. In an interview with reporters on July 31, Villar said that she has yet to decide if she would run for Las Piñas mayor or as congresswoman.
The senator said that she will decide on which position to run for by October, when the filing of certificates of candidacy begins. Villar wants to continue her environmental advocacies in Las Piñas, among others.
In her recent interview, Binay said that she would likely run as mayor in Makati, a stronghold of the Binay family.
“Konting signs na lang. Malapit na tayong mag-desisyon. And kung baga the percentage is going up and it’s not going down,” she said. (Just a few more signs. We’re close to making a decision. And, so to speak, the percentage is going up and it’s not going down.)
If she decides to run, the senator will be running against her brother-in-law, Makati Representative Luis Campos Jr., the husband of her younger sister, incumbent Makati Mayor Abby Binay.
Meanwhile, Poe and Pimentel are still mum about their political plans or next moves after their terms end in 2025.
Poe has been topping the vice presidential survey for 2028. But that will happen in three years’ time after her Senate term?
Poe ran for president in 2016 but lost to then-Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte. (READ: Grace Poe and the lost presidency)
Pimentel, also the current Senate minority leader, has yet to publicize his plans.
Rappler will update this page once plans of the “graduating” senators become firm. – Rappler.com
