Newly elected senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan ran as an independent candidate in the May 12 midterm elections and was never endorsed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
However, Pangilinan was inaccurately placed alongside Marcos-backed Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas candidates Erwin Tulfo, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Vicente “Tito” Sotto, Pia Cayetano and Lito Lapid in a May 13 post by TikTok user @philippine_issues, which presented a list of the Top 12 senators based on endorsements from Marcos, Vice President Sara Duterte or neither.
Pangilinan reaffirmed in an X post on March 27 that he was an independent candidate, denying any talks with Alyansa following presidential sister Imee Marcos’ exit from the slate.
He said:
There have been no discussions between my camp and Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas. Our campaign remains independent and focused on our core advocacy—fighting high food prices and ensuring food security for every Filipino family.
Pangilinan was never included in any of the president’s endorsement posts. Aside from Imee Marcos’ removal, the list of administration-backed candidates remained unchanged between the president’s first and last endorsement posts.
Pangilinan and Bam Aquino, both former senators, successfully ran as independent senatorial candidates despite their affiliations with the Liberal Party and the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, respectively.
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