Gabriela party-list ends 21-year congressional streak but vows to continue fighting

Members of the women’s party-list Gabriela hold a protest along Padre Burgos cor. Roxas Boulevard in Manila on Friday, May 16, 2025, to express their dismay over the Comelec’s assessment of the recently concluded elections and to call for a manual recount. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — For the first time in over 20 years, Gabriela party-list will not have a seat in the House of Representatives after failing to get enough votes in the recently-concluded 2025 midterm polls.

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On Monday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed the party-list groups who will occupy the 63 seats reserved for them in the upcoming Congress.

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Gabriela almost made it in this year's party-list race, if only it ranked 54th instead of 55th in terms of number of votes. 

GABRIELA 

The group Gabriela was founded in 1984, but the party-list was only launched in 2003. 

It joined the party-list race in 2004, where it won over 400,000 votes, electing Liza Maza as its first ever representative.

Gabriela continued to perform well in the succeeding elections, winning 2 seats in the 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016 polls. It peaked in 2016, garnering 4.22 percent of the party-list votes. 

Its decline began in the following years, blaming the sustained "red-tagging" from the administration of then-President Rodrigo Duterte, who accused the Makabayan coalition of links to the communist movement.

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In the 2019 and 2022 elections, Gabriela still managed to obtain at least one seat, but its votes continued to drop.

'TULOY ANG LABAN'

For the 2025 elections, Gabriela failed to summon enough votes to be part of the winning circle. 

The group's first nominee Sarah Elago vowed to "keep fighting" despite the loss.

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"Tuloy ang laban! No seat in Congress won’t stop Gabriela Women's Party in raising our voices for the genuine empowerment and emancipation of women, all genders, and oppressed classes. Our commitment to uphold the rights of women, children, LGBTQ, and the marginalized remains unwavering!" Elago said on Facebook.

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In a statement, Gabriela party-list thanked women advocates, mass organizations, and supporters "who have stood firm with Gabriela throughout the campaign and beyond."

It also vowed to continue its "legislative and grassroots work for the rights and welfare of women and the marginalized."

“Hindi man tayo iproklama, tuloy ang pangangalampag ng Gabriela Women’s Party para sa mga panukalang batas na tunay na maka-kababaihan at maka-mahirap,” Elago said. 

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