Local elections were held in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

on May 9, 2022 within the Philippine general election. Registered voters of the city elected their

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, vice mayor, district representatives, and

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

members. The mayor and vice mayor were elected in separate first-past-the-post votes. While for the legislative branch, Cebu City is divided into two districts wherein the constituents of each district elected a congressional representative (through first-past-the-post voting) and eight regular city council members (through

multi-member plurality Plurality block voting is a type of block voting method for Multiwinner voting, multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the most votes are elected. The usual result when ...

voting). Incumbent mayor

Mike Rama File:Official_handover_turnover_of_Palarong_Pambansa_Flag_(Rizal,_Metro_Manila;_2023-08-05)_E911a_13.jpg, Rama at Marikina Sports Center Michael Lopez Rama (born October 28, 1954) is a Filipino politician who served as Mayor of Cebu City fro ...

( Barug-

PDP–Laban The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP, ) is a populist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was previously known as Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) from 1983 to 2024 as a result of a merger with L ...

) won a full term by defeating former acting mayor

Margot Osmeña Margarita "Margot" Lim Vargas Osmeña (born July 25, 1949) is a Filipino politician who served as a member of the Cebu City Council from 2010 to 2019. She is married to former mayor of Cebu City Tomas Osmeña. A member of the Vargas clan of P ...

( BO–PK- LDP) and four other independent candidates. Rama, who was elected vice mayor in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, ascended to the mayorship upon the death of Mayor

Edgardo Labella Edgardo Colina Labella (; May 22, 1951 – November 19, 2021) was a Filipino politician and lawyer who served as the mayor of Cebu City from 2019 until his death in 2021. Prior to becoming mayor, he was the city's vice mayor from 2013 to 2019 ...

in 2021. Rama also previously served two consecutive terms as mayor from 2010 to 2016. Rama's running mate, councilor

Raymond Alvin Garcia Raymond Alvin Neri Garcia (born January 29, 1977) is a Filipino politician and lawyer who has been serving as the 28th Mayor of Cebu City since 2024. He previously served as the city's 20th Vice Mayor from 2022 to 2024, and as City Councilor fo ...

( KUSUG/PDP–Laban), was elected vice mayor by defeating Osmeña's running mate, councilor Franklyn Ong. In the Cebu City Council, Rama's ticket composed of Barug-PDP–Laban, KUSUG, and three independents won twelve seats (five seats in the 1st district and seven in the 2nd district). Meanwhile, Osmeña's BO–PK-LDP ticket garnered the remaining four seats (three seats in the 1st district and one in the 2nd district) down from the eight they held in the outgoing term. For Cebu City's

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

seats: in the 1st district,

Rachel del Mar Rachel Marguerite "Cutie" Borromeo del Mar (born November 3, 1966) is a Filipino people, Filipina politician. She currently serves as the House of Representatives (Philippines), representative for the Cebu City's 1st congressional district, 1st ...

( NPC) was elected for a second non-consecutive term to the seat vacated by her father,

Raul del Mar Raul Veloso del Mar (March 20, 1941 – November 16, 2020) was a Filipino politician who served as the Representative of Cebu City's 1st district three times: from 1987 to 1998, from 2001 to 2010, and from 2013 until his death in 2020. He w ...

, who died in office back in 2020. Meanwhile, in the 2nd district, councilor Eduardo "Edu" Rama Jr. (PDP–Laban), Mike Rama's nephew, defeated LDP's nominee BG Rodrigo Abellanosa, son of the term-limited incumbent

Rodrigo Abellanosa Rodrigo "Bebot" Abellana Abellanosa (born December 2, 1961) is a Filipino politician who served as the representative for the 2nd district (south district) of Cebu City from 2013 to 2022. He was a member of the Cebu City Council representing ...

. The elected officials assumed their respective offices on June 30, 2022 and are expected to each serve a three-year term until June 30, 2025.

Background

Prior to his death on November 19, 2021, then mayor

chose not to seek re-election in 2022, paving the way for then vice mayor Michael Rama to seek a return to his old post as mayor. Rama, who previously served as mayor from 2010 to 2016, teamed up with incumbent city councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia as his candidate for vice mayor whom he competed against for the position of vice mayor in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

but has since become allies when the latter's political party KUSUG endorsed Rama's re-election in 2013. Margarita Osmeña, a former city councilor and wife of former mayor

Tomas Osmeña Tomas "Tommy" de la Rama Osmeña (; born July 26, 1948) is a Filipino politician who was recently elected as the Vice Mayor of Cebu City in 2025 elections. He previously served as Mayor from 1987 to 1995, 2001 to 2010, and 2016 to 2019. He als ...

, has also decided to throw her hat into the mayoral race together with incumbent city councilor Franklyn Ong as her candidate for vice mayor. Ong is currently serving as Kasambagan barangay captain and as

ex officio member An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by ri ...

of the

Cebu City Council The Cebu City Council (Filipino language, Filipino: Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Cebu) is the legislature of Cebu City, Philippines. The legislative body is composed of 18 councilors, with 16 councilors elected from Cebu City's two Legislative dis ...

representing the

Liga ng mga Barangay The Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas (League of Barangays in the Philippines) and the Asosasyon ng mga Kapitan ng Barangay (Association of Barangay Captains, ABC) are formal organizations of all the barangays in the Philippines. Presently, alm ...

- Cebu City Chapter. Osmeña has previously served as acting mayor from May 17, 2016 to June 30, 2016 with the suspension of then mayor Rama. If elected, Osmeña will be the first woman mayor of the city. Several personalities have also filed their candidacies such as incumbent city councilor David Tumulak as mayor, former city administrator Bimbo Fernandez as vice mayor, actor and businessman

Richard Yap Richard Edison Uy Yap (born May 18, 1967) is a Filipino actor and recording artist. He is best known for portraying Richard "Sir Chief" Lim in '' Be Careful with My Heart'' and "Papa Chen" in '' My Binondo Girl''. And from 2022 to 2024, he por ...

as representative of Cebu City's 1st congressional district, and former mayor

as representative of Cebu City's 2nd congressional district. However, Osmeña withdrew his candidacy days before the substitution deadline and was replaced by BG Rodrigo Abellanosa, son of

Term-limited and retiring incumbents

The following are "third-termers", who are term limited.

Congressional representative

( BOPK/ LDP)

Councilors

* David Tumulak ( BARUG/

Nacionalista The Nacionalista Party (Filipino language, Filipino and Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; , NP) is a political party in the Philippines which is the oldest existing party in the country and in Southeast Asi ...

) * Eugenio Gabuya Jr. ( BOPK/ LDP)

Candidates

Official candidates

The

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

is expected to publish a final list of accepted candidates by early 2022.

Filed certificates of candidacies

The following have filed certificates of candidacies, formally notifying the commission that they are running.

Mayor

; October 4 * Edgar Concha Jr. (

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

), call center agent ; October 7 * Margarita Osmeña ( BOPK/ LDP), former city councilor, term limited in 2019 * Crisologo Saavedra Jr. (

), businessman * David Tumulak (

), incumbent city councilor ; October 8 * Jose Layon ( Reporma) * Juanito Luna (

) * Michael Rama ( BARUG/

), incumbent vice mayor and former mayor

Vice Mayor

; October 4 * Bimbo Fernandez (

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

), former undersecretary of interior and local government and former city administrator ** Fernandez was initially endorsed by a group of non-government organizations to run for mayor but opted to run for vice mayor. ; October 5 * Franklyn Ong ( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent city councilor and president of Liga ng mga Barangay - Cebu City Chapter ; October 8 *

( KUSUG/

), incumbent city councilor

1st District Representative

; October 3 *

( NUP), actor and businessman, lost election in 2019 ; October 5 *

( BOPK/ NPC), former representative of Cebu City's 1st congressional district ; October 8 * Prisca Niña Mabatid ( BARUG/

), incumbent city councilor * Manuel Momongan (

) * Avenescio Piramide (

Lakas–CMD Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats, abbreviated as Lakas–CMD and also known simply as Lakas, (and known as Lakas–Kampi until 2011) is a political party in the Philippines. Lakas–CMD is considered to be on the Centre-right politics, centre ...

)

2nd District Representative

; October 8 * Eduardo Rama Jr. ( BARUG/

PDP-Laban The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP, ) is a Populism, populist List of political parties in the Philippines, political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was previously known as Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–L ...

), incumbent city councilor

1st District Representative

; October 1 * Gian Aznar (

PROMDI The Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives or Probinsya Muna Development Initiative (; ), abbreviated as PROMDI or Abag-Promdi, is a political party in the Philippines based in Cebu. The party was founded in 1997 by Lito Osmeña, ...

), former seafarer and teacher ; October 5 * Lea Ouano-Japson (

/ LDP), incumbent city councilor * Winston Pepito ( Reporma), incumbent Bacayan barangay councilor *

Joy Augustus Young Joy Augustus Go Young is a Filipino politician currently serving as a member of the City Council representing Cebu City's North District. He served as Vice Mayor of Cebu City from 2010 to 2013 and was a member of the Philippine House of Repre ...

( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent city councilor and former vice mayor ; October 7 * Sisinio Andales ( BOPK/ LDP), former city councilor * Nestor Archival ( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent city councilor * Alvin Arcilla ( BOPK/ LDP), former city councilor * Arturo Barrit ( BOPK/ LDP), spokesperson of Associated Labor Union- Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) * Alvin Dizon ( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent city councilor ; October 8 * Pastor Alcover Jr. ( BARUG/

), former city councilor, lost re-election in 2019 * Maria Buanghug ( BARUG/

), vendors group leader * Mary Ann de los Santos ( BOPK/ LDP), former city councilor * Roland Empleo (Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi) * Joel Garganera (

), incumbent city councilor * Jerry Guardo ( BARUG/

), incumbent city councilor * Edwin Jagmoc (

), former city councilor * Emmanuel Labella (

), brother of mayor

* Edgardo Labella II ( BARUG/

), son of mayor

, lost election in 2016 * Reynald Lauron ( PANAGHIUSA/

Aksyon Demokratiko Aksyon Demokratiko (, ), or simply Aksyon, is a political party in the Philippines founded by Raul Roco. It was recognized as a national political party in 1998 by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and is considered to be one of the major p ...

), incumbent Cambinocot barangay captain * Melvin Legaspi ( BARUG/

), lawyer * Peter Mancao ( BARUG/

), deputy task force leader of the city's Covid-19 vaccine rollout * Noel Eleuterio Wenceslao ( BARUG/

), former city councilor, lost re-election in 2016

2nd District Councilor

; October 5 * Raul Alcoseba ( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent city councilor ; October 6 * Alejandro Cabido (

) * Janet Calleno (

) ; October 7 * Josephine Abella-Maglasang ( BOPK/ LDP), sister of the late Atty. Amay Abella * Gremar Barete ( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent Buhisan barangay captain * Roberto Cabarrubias ( BOPK/ LDP), former city councilor * Cornelio Jaca ( BOPK/ LDP), retired Municipal Trial Courts in Cities judge * Omar Kintanar ( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent Cogon Pardo barangay councilor * Ana Gabriela Beatriz Osmeña ( BOPK/ LDP), daughter-in-law of former mayor Tomas Osmeña ; October 8 * Raymundo Crystal ( PANAGHIUSA) * James Anthony Cuenco ( BARUG/

), incumbent city councilor ** Assumed office on September 15, 2020 to replace his father,

Antonio Cuenco Antonio "Tony" Veloso Cuenco (March 26, 1936 – June 27, 2020) was a Filipino politician who served as a council member for the 2nd District of the Cebu City Council. He also served as the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary As ...

. * Alan Dinampo (Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi) * Harry Eran ( BARUG/

), incumbent Cogon Pardo barangay captain * Pancrasio Esparis ( BARUG/

), incumbent Quiot barangay captain * Rey Gealon ( BARUG/

), incumbent city legal officer * Donaldo Hontiveros (

), incumbent city councilor * Renato Osmeña Jr. ( BARUG/

), incumbent city councilor * Samuel Panilagao (

) * Jocelyn Pesquera ( BARUG/

), former city councilor * Simeon Romarate ( PANAGHIUSA), incumbent Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) head * Phillip Zafra (

), incumbent city councilor

Candidates who withdrew

These are the candidates who have filed candidacies, but later withdrew: * Michael Bantasan ( NUP) ** On October 8, Bantasan filed to run for representative of Cebu City's 2nd congressional district. On October 12, Bantasan withdrew his candidacy. *

( BOPK/ LDP), former mayor ** On October 7, Osmeña filed to run for representative of Cebu City's 2nd congressional district. On November 12, Osmeña withdrew his candidacy and was substituted by BG Rodrigo Abellanosa, son of

. * Michael Matañoza (

) ** On October 8, Matañoza filed to run for

mayor of Cebu City The ''Mayor of Cebu City'' () is the chief executive of the government of Cebu City in the Philippines. The mayor leads the city's departments in executing ordinances and delivering public services. The mayorship is a three-year term and each ma ...

. On November 15, Matañoza withdrew his candidacy. * Clifford Jude Niñal ( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent San Nicolas Proper barangay captain ** On October 7, Niñal filed to run for 2nd district councilor of Cebu City. On November 15, Niñal withdrew his candidacy and was substituted by Jose Lorenzo Abellanosa, son of

Declined to be candidates

For mayor

( BOPK/ LDP), incumbent representative of Cebu City's 2nd congressional district ** Abellanosa considered running for city mayor but ultimately gave way to Margarita Osmeña. * Chuck Barandog, police official *

( BOPK/ LDP), former mayor and former representative of Cebu City's 2nd congressional district

For 1st District representative

* Mary Ann de los Santos ( BOPK/ LDP), former city councilor ** De los Santos, who unsuccessfully ran for vice mayor in 2019, opted to run for city councilor. * Mariano Osmeña (

), businessman

For 2nd District representative

* Jocelyn Pesquera ( BARUG/

), former city councilor ** Pesquera, who unsuccessfully ran for representative of Cebu City's 2nd congressional district in 2019, opted to run for city councilor.

For 1st District councilor

* Garry Lao, former Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention head and incumbent City of Lapu-Lapu Office for Substance Abuse Prevention head

For 2nd District councilor

* Gerardo Carillo, former city councilor * Jessica Resch, incumbent Sangguniang Kabataan Federation - Cebu City president

Non-candidates

( BARUG/

) – Died on June 27, 2020. ** Served his first term as Cebu City councilor. *

( BOPK/ Liberal) – Died on November 16, 2020. ** Served his third and last term as representative of Cebu City's 1st District. *

( BARUG/

) – Died on November 19, 2021. ** Did not seek re-election for

Opinion polling

Mayoralty and vice mayoralty elections

Mayor

Margarita Osmeña, a former city councilor and wife of former mayor

, is challenging incumbent mayor Michael Rama for the position of

. Outgoing city councilor David Tumulak has also joined the race as an independent candidate.

Vice mayor

Incumbent city councilors Raymond Alvin Garcia and Franklyn Ong are competing for the position of vice mayor along with former city administrator Bimbo Fernandez.

District representatives

1st District

Actor

is running again as 1st district representative after losing to the late

in the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

. Yap will face off with former party mate and incumbent city councilor Prisca Niña Mabatid and del Mar's daughter

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

, who previously served as the district's representative from 2010 to 2013.

2nd District

BG Rodrigo Abellanosa is eyeing to succeed his father, incumbent district representative

. He will face off against Eduardo Rama Jr., an incumbent city councilor and nephew of incumbent mayor Michael Rama.

City Council elections

Incumbents The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

are expressed in italics.

By ticket

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino/ Bando Osmeña – Pundok Kauswagan

Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan/
Partido Barug Partido Barug (transl. 'Stand Party'), commonly known as BARUG, is a regional political party based in Cebu City, Philippines. Mayor of Cebu City, Cebu City mayor Mike Rama, Michael Rama is its founding president. BARUG is currently affiliated ...
/
Kugi Uswag Sugbo Kugi Uswag Sugbo (), commonly known as KUSUG, is a local political party based in Cebu City, Philippines and was founded by former Mayor Alvin Garcia. It was formerly allied with the Partido Barug of former mayor Michael Rama from 2013 to 202 ...

Aksyon Demokratiko

Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi

Partido Panaghiusa

Partido Para sa Demokratikong Reporma

PROMDI

Independents

By district

1st District

*Key: ''Italicized'': incumbent , -bgcolor=black , colspan=5,

2nd District

*Key: ''Italicized'': incumbent , -bgcolor=black , colspan=5,

Notes

References

{{Central Visayas elections 2022 Philippine local elections Elections in Cebu City May 2022 in the Philippines