The one-year appointment ban for losing candidates in the 2025 national elections has expired. Who has President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed from this pool of politicians?

This ban applies to candidates of any election and all government offices, government-owned or controlled corporations, and their subsidiaries, according to the 1987 Constitution. For the 2025 elections, the ban expired on May 13, 2026. 

Since then, Marcos has chosen a handful of these politicians to fill government posts.

“Don’t be surprised if we get more appointments from those candidates who ran in the last election who didn’t make it,” Marcos told reporters on May 29, confirming his plan to give more of these losing candidates — both local and national — a fresh mandate.

Here’s a running list of these appointments:

• Benhur Abalos – Cabinet secretary
• Francis Tolentino – acting labor secretary
• Lino Cayetano – PTV-4 general manager

Rappler will update this story as more appointments come in. 

Benhur Abalos

The Palace announced Abalos’ appointment as Cabinet secretary on July 8, nearly a month after the one-year appointment ban on defeated 2025 candidates lapsed.

Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said Abalos’ new role is to “assist” Marcos by “providing timely, relevant, and strategic advice on emerging national, local, and international issues affecting the political landscape.”

The Office of the Cabinet Secretary was abolished by Marcos through a 2022 executive order. The Cabinet Secretariat was placed under the Presidential Management Staff, but continues to lead Cabinet meetings — including setting the agenda and facilitating the discussions — alongside the executive secretary.

This is not Abalos’ first time in the Marcos Cabinet. He was appointed secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in 2022 and resigned from the position in 2024 to run for senator under the Marcos administration’s 2025 Senate coalition slate.

The ex-DILG chief lost his senatorial bid, ranking 16th with 11.5 million votes.

Francis Tolentino

Tolentino was named acting secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment on May 25, 2026, after long-time chief Bienvenido Laguesma stepped down from the role due to health reasons.

Then-senator Francis Tolentino ran for reelection under the senatorial slate of the Marcos-backed Alyansa para Bagong Pilipinas in the 2025 elections. He lost his bid, placing 25th in the polls and becoming the worst-performing candidate among the 11 Alyansa senatoriables.

His term in the 19th Congress was his first successful senatorial bid. Before that, he was a long-time mayor of Tagaytay City. His family is one of the largest political dynasties in Cavite.

He was also chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority for most of president Benigno Aquino III’s term, from 2010 to 2015.

Lino Cayetano

Cayetano was appointed general manager of PTV-4 on June 4, replacing acting general manager Malou Choa-Fagar. This happened a day after a messy Senate leadership shakeup that ousted his estranged older brother, Alan Peter, from the Senate presidency. 

Lino Cayetano lost his bid in the 2025 Taguig 1st District congressional race to the candidate supported by Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, Alan Peter’s wife. 

Lino is the youngest of the Cayetano siblings, who also include Senator Pia Cayetano.

Before his latest election bid, Lino served as Taguig 2nd District congressman from 2013 to 2016, and Taguig mayor from 2019 to 2022. He was a well-known film director prior to entering politics, directing primetime shows for all three major Philippine networks.

He also co-founded Rein Entertainment Philippines, where he works as a producer and director. The company describes itself as a “boutique creative house” and has produced films for global platforms like Netflix, Tencent TV, and Prime Video. – Rappler.com