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MANILA, Philippines – Actor Robin Padilla, one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s most loyal celebrity supporters, emerged as the top senatorial candidate in the 2022 elections, besting the likes of longtime politicians on his first try for the Senate.

Partial and unofficial results from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) transparency server as of Tuesday, May 10, 11:53 am showed he garnered 26,140,365 votes, ranking him first among 63 candidates. Only 12 winners will be proclaimed.

Though a staunch, longtime defender of Duterte’s policies, Padilla only joined the ruling party in October 2021, when he joined the PDP-Laban faction headed by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. 

In the 2022 race, he consistently appeared at campaign sorties of Uniteam slate of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos – and presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, upon her personal wishes.

Padilla was included in Sara’s personal slate, who she voiced support for because they were her friends. The Davao City mayor later described him as the Uniteam’s “guest candidate.”

Padilla’s performance in the 2022 polls surpassed preelection surveys. The latest April 2022 survey of Pulse Asia had the action star in the 3rd to 4th rank, with a 42.3% voter preference. 

The actor ran on promises of pursuing anti-criminality measures and support for the crackdown on illegal drugs, federalism, and a push to legislate community policing, among others.

In 1994, Padilla was convicted of illegal possession of firearms and was imprisoned thereafter, from 1995. Former president Fidel V. Ramos granted him conditional pardon in 1998, but it did not restore, in full, his civil and political rights.

Duterte later granted Padilla executive clemency in November 2016, fully restoring his civil and political rights. It allowed the actor to travel abroad to the United Sates for the birth of his daughter with actress Mariel Rodriguez. 

The President’s absolute pardon allowed Padilla to seek public office. 

At the time, Duterte said Padilla’s crime did not hurt anyone, and that by then, “he suffered enough.”

The action star, who campaigned for Duterte in 2016, joined the Cusi-wing of the PDP-Laban with his brother Rommel, who ran to represent the 1st district of Nueva Ecija in Congress.

Preelection surveys had popular broadcaster Raffy Tulfo poised to top the Senate race until Padilla surged past him on election day, May 9. 

Padilla has voiced support for legalizing divorce, same-sex civil unions, the reinstatement of the death penalty for drug offenses and corruption, and anti-dynasty measures – so long as they do not affect a proposed shift to federalism. He has been trying to enter politics since 1995 but failed in every local post he vied for. – with a report from Aika Rey/Rappler.com