Former senator Leila de Lima is making a comeback in Congress, this time as a representative of the Mamayang Liberal (ML) partylist in the House of Representatives.
ML Partylist was among the 52 winning groups in the 2025 midterm elections, as proclaimed by the Commission on Elections on Monday, May 19. It secured 547,949 votes, placing 14th in the party-list race.
Akbayan Partylist, led by human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, topped the party-list race with more than 2.77 million votes. The group secured three seats, which will be filled by its second and third nominees, Rep. Perci Cendaña and Dadah Kiram Ismula.
READ: Comelec proclaims 52 party-list winners, defers 2 others over disqualification cases | LIVE: Proclamation of 2025 midterm party-list winners
The two party-lists signaled a possible team-up in Congress after De Lima shared a photo with Diokno, Cendaña and Ismula.
“We did it! ML Partylist (handshake emoji) Akbayan sa Kongreso!Tuloy ang laban para sa hustisya at reporma!” she wrote with a Philippine flag.
Akbayan’s Facebook page gamely responded by reposting their photos with De Lima.
“Akbayan x ML, OTP! (heart eyes emoji) We love to see you back, Manay!” Akbayan said in the post.
In fandom culture, “OTP” stands for “One True Pairing,” a term used to describe a fan’s favorite fictional romantic relationship.
ML, Akbayan representations
ML seeks to represent “the marginalized, fight for justice, and promote accountability at all levels of governance,” while Akbayan advocates “for a people-centered, independent foreign policy, prioritizing the interests of Filipinos while promoting international solidarity and upholding national sovereignty.”
De Lima and Diokno, both human rights lawyers and first nominees of their respective party-list groups, previously ran for senator in the 2022 elections under the same ticket but did not win.
— Janelle Liong
