Pam Baricuatro is governor-elect of Cebu

Pamela Baricuatro celebrates with her supporters after she was proclaimed as the new governor of Cebu. | CDN Digital photo / Ferdinand Edralin

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu has a new governor.

Pamela Baricuatro of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) has been proclaimed as governor-elect on Tuesday afternoon, May 13, 2025.

Baricuatro defeated incumbent Governor Gwendolyn Garcia after garnering 1,107,924 votes, with a huge margin of approximately 342,000 votes.

Garcia, on the other hand, only received 765,051 votes.

The outcome of the gubernatorial race was a huge upset for Garcia, who sought to be reelected for her third and final term.

Baricuatro won -either by landslide or with tight margins- in 29 localities. This includes known Garcia strongholds like Liloan, the hometown of the incumbent’s in-laws.

After garnering over 1.1 million votes, Pamela Baricuatro has been proclaimed as the 25th Governor of Cebu on May 13, 2025. | CDN Digital photo / Ferdinand Edralin

Baricuatro dominated in the south, from Talisay City down to Oslob in the southernmost tip of the province.

She also won big in the 1st Congressional District, composed of the cities of Talisay, Carcar, Naga and the towns of Minglanilla, San Fernando and Sibonga,  where she swept all votes.

The 1st Congressional District is the most vote-rich area in Cebu province.

Cebu province covers 51 localities, including Mandaue City, the only highly urbanized city (HUC) allowed to vote for governor. Majority of Mandaue City’s voters chose Baricuatro.

Proclamation delayed

However, Baricuatro’s proclamation have been marred by glitches after an automatic counting machine (ACM) bogged down in a lone precinct in Pinamungajan town, causing delays in the transmittal of results.

In turn, election officers there had to manually feed the ballots which took time.

Lawyer Marchel Sarno, Comelec-Cebu Elections Supervisor, explained that the election procedures mandate them to declare the winners only if all election returns from the 3,080 precincts in the province have been sent to the canvassing center.

Initially, the Board of Canvassers decided to adjust the threshold after Baricuatro’s camp proposed in proceeding with the proclamation, adding that the remaining unread ballots would no longer impact the overall count.

However, all pending ballots managed to get through before the Comelec Manila office can process the threshold request.

Tension

As they await for all unread ballots to be tallied, tensions started to brew inside the canvassing center at the Capitol Social Hall, particularly when an individual reportedly tried to file a petition for disqualification against Baricuatro.

This prompted Sarno to issue a warning against any individual who will try to disrupt the election process saying that they will have them arrested.

On the other hand, the Board decided to proceed with the proclamation despite rumors that Garcia’s camp seeks to file a disqualification case against her opponent.

While begging off to provide any comments, Sarno said they have not received any such document.

Credit to Rodrigo Duterte

For her part, Baricuatro expressed gratitude to voters who gave her their trust to lead the province, and supporters, including former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Baricuatro even gave credit to Duterte over his endorsement, saying it greatly helped in her victory.

“And to those who campaigned for me without me knowing, daghan gyud kaayong salamat,” she added.