Do we like Risa Hontiveros?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Years of pushing protections for LGBTQ+ people, women and families, with only contested, unproven claims against her and a thin record on climate.
The bill is a long game. It was first filed by the late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and has been pending in Congress for over two decades. Hontiveros refiled it again in 2025, so the fight isn't over, but she hasn't walked away from it despite repeated stalls.
The harm check is a clean one. She has campaigned against human trafficking, pushed the law that bans offshore gaming operations, and filed a Senate resolution to probe the impacts of mining and quarrying. She also urged the Marcos government to rejoin the International Criminal Court. We found no slide into conspiracy theories, no attacks on women or migrants, and no dodgy co-stars to worry about.
Now the mud. In 2025 lawyers filed an ethics complaint against her over a Senate witness in the Quiboloy hearings who later retracted a claim and accused her of bribery. She called it “recycled lies, harassment” and said she would face it. Separately, her own cyberlibel complaints over those claims were reportedly dismissed by the DOJ. No finding against her turned up.
Fact-checkers have also had to swat down viral claims about her. One said the Supreme Court ordered her to repay PhilHealth funds. VERA Files rated that false, and PhilHealth said she was not included in the notice of disallowance. It's a reminder to check before sharing a quote card with her face on it.
The recent news is politics. She says she is preparing for a possible May 2028 presidential bid and wants one opposition candidate, not a split field. The polling is a hill to climb, with Sara Duterte well in front, but it's the thing to watch.
On the good stuff, she won an international social justice award in 2019, and she sponsored the amended anti-trafficking law that makes platforms responsible for trafficking on their services. She also welcomed the 2025 ban on offshore gaming operations. That's a lot of practical, unflashy lawmaking.