MANILA, Philippines — In a stunning upset, independent candidate and incumbent city councilor Mark Anthony Santos has unseated Senator Cynthia Villar in the race for the lone congressional district of Las Piñas City.
The city’s board of canvassers proclaimed Santos the official winner early Tuesday morning.
As of 5:02 a.m., partial and unofficial results sourced from 275 Election Returns and aggregated by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed Santos leading with 83,078 votes, ahead of Villar’s 60,455 votes.
Two other candidates—Cong Louie Redoble of Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) and independent Barry Tayam—garnered 26,620 and 7,024 votes, respectively.
Santos’ win marks a significant political shift in Las Piñas, a city long dominated by the Villar family, who have held various elected positions there since the 1960s. Villar, the matriarch of one of the country’s most powerful political clans, was widely expected to win the congressional seat.
In a Facebook post following his victory, Santos expressed gratitude to his supporters, saying his triumph reflected the will of voters who “believed that true change is possible with compassion and service.”
