๐โ๐โ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ก? ๐๐๐กโ ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐กโ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ โ.
By Romel “Direk” Bernardo
Founder, Mindoro Today
At first glance, the election season in Pinamalayan might seem familiar โ political banners flapping in the wind, trucks, cars, and tricycles carrying sound systems blasting candidatesโ jingles through the roads, and candidates shaking hands at every street corner. But beneath the surface, this yearโs race is anything but ordinary.
With the May 12, 2025 polls just days away, the battle for mayor has captured the imagination of the public โ not because itโs predictable, but because itโs shaping up as one of the most electrifying contests the town has ever seen.
For months, political insiders watched as incumbent Vice Mayor Rodel Magsino and former congressional chief of staff Christine โC3โ de Castro locked horns, each building their base, each sharpening their message.
But what no one fully anticipated was the rise of a third force: Board Member Juday Servando, the youngest in the field, whose star has been rising at a stunning pace.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐
In the latest Mindoro Today survey conducted April 29 to May 4 across 1,227 respondents, the overall numbers show:
C3 de Castro: 44.6%
Rodel Magsino: 37.3%
Juday Servando: 11.5%
Undecided: 6.6%
When projected onto an estimated 51,000 voters with 80% turnout, that equals:
De Castro: ~18,168 votes
Magsino: ~15,200 votes
Servando: ~4,700 votes
Undecided: ~2,700 votes
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐: ๐ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ
Survey observations reveal intriguing patterns across Pinamalayanโs political map. De Castro dominates the urban core โ the Poblacion zones, and the major barangays of Wawa, Marfrancisco and Papandayan โ where her congressional network and program delivery resonate strongly. In the Central Highway belt, including Sta. Rita and Sto. Niรฑo, she has carved out commanding leads, while the southern barangays of Papandayan, Del Razon, Quinabigan, and Malaya show a surprisingly tight three-way race, with Servando posting her best numbers there, particularly in Papandayan where she registerd almost 20%. Magsinoโs bastion remains the Pagalagala-Sabang corridor and rural zones, where his grassroots ties run deep, though some old strongholds show slippage toward De Castro. Meanwhile, the coastal cluster is a split battleground, with mixed results pointing to the rising appeal of the De Castro-Baldos split ticket, which โ despite the heated exchanges between the camps โ is bafflingly becoming the top mixed preference among voters seeking both reform and tested governance. But in Pili and Guinhawa, Magsino holds a wide lead over the two other candidates.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
Magsino, the candidate of continuity, holds the endorsement of outgoing Mayor Aris Baldos and the bloc-voting Iglesia ni Cristo, whose estimated 2,500โ3,000 members could swing results in tightly contested barangays. His appeal in rural belts and west-end corridors remains his greatest strength.
De Castro, meanwhile, has surged as the face of reform. Armed with her congressional network, she has secured over โฑ100 million worth of medical, livelihood, educational, and financial programs, reportedly benefiting 20,000 Pinamaleรฑos. Not just a politician, she has become a symbol of service, dominating urban centers and even gaining ground in Magsinoโs old strongholds.
Servando, the millennial upstart, has run an impressive campaign powered by youth energy. Her mental health drives, school feeding projects, and highly visible motorcades have more than doubled her support over two months โ jumping from 5% in January to 11.5% in May. Notably, she commands her strongest numbers in the south, where reform-minded voters seem eager for fresh ideas.

๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ข๐ป๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฟ: ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ
The heat of the campaign hasnโt been confined to rallies and house-to-house visits โ itโs been raging online, too. De Castroโs camp fired the opening salvo with a one-minute video framing the 2025 mayoral race as a fight between new politics and what she calls a โlumang pulitika na bigo sa serbisyo at imprastraktura.โ
This followed a viral report (not from Mindoro Today) naming Pinamalayan as the LGU with the second-highest liabilities in Oriental Mindoro, pegged at โฑ500 million. While technically misleading โ as liabilities in government also cover routine financial obligations โ De Castroโs camp used it to pressure the Baldos administration for explanations.
Mayor Baldos responded forcefully in a video interview, dismissing the figures as โfake newsโ and calling his opponents โmga desperadong kandidato.โ But in doing so, he publicly confirmed that the LGU holds a โฑ208 million LandBank loan, used to finance road projects, including one near the controversial Dolores Peak, where Baldos reportedly owns land.
That video racked up nearly 84,000 views and energized the administration camp. But De Castroโs follow-up clips attacking the townโs outdated market (25,000 views) and overcrowded cemetery (49,000 views) reignited debate.
The Working Tandem page countered with reels celebrating Pinamalayanโs investment surge โ the arrival of Mang Inasal (435,000 views) and a Flow G concert (2 million views) โ casting the town as a vibrant, growing hub.
While the two frontrunners battle online, Servando quietly works her ground game, visiting barangays and steadily improving her numbers without the flash of viral content.
๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ง๐๐ถ๐๐: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ-๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฑ๐ผ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
A surprising undercurrent in the surveys is the emerging support for a mixed De Castro-Baldos ticket, with 32% of all survey respondents saying they favor pairing the reform-oriented De Castro as mayor with the seasoned Baldos as vice mayor. Despite the verbal tussle between De Castro and Baldos online, their mixed pairing remains a leading split ticket โ a baffling but notable trend among voters who see the combination as balancing fresh leadership with experienced governance.
This mixed pairing is strongest in the Western Cluster (37% support), followed by the Coastal villages (33%) and Southern barangays (32%). Political observers note that this bloc of voters sees the combination as a balance between fresh leadership and experienced, tested governance.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ : ๐๐ป๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ
With just days to go, the race feels wide open.
Will De Castroโs urban wave, program delivery, and social media momentum propel her to victory?
Can Magsinoโs strong machinery, religious backing, and deep rural networks claw back the lead?
Or will Servandoโs disciplined, youth-driven campaign upset expectations and shatter the two-way framing of the contest?
Whatever the final result, one thing is clear: Pinamalayan is heading into one of the most thrilling, unpredictable elections in its political history.
Stay tuned โ Mindoro Today will be bringing you the final tallies, live updates, and post-election analysis as the story unfolds.
๐๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ: ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ข ๐ฏ๐ช ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ (๐๐๐), ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.
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