Asenso Manileño Movement () is a local political party in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. It is the city's ruling party since 2019, being in dominion through the administrations of mayors Isko Moreno and

Honey Lacuna Maria Sheilah "Honey" Honrado Lacuna-Pangan (born May 6, 1965) is a Filipina physician and politician who has served as the 24th and current mayor of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, since 2022. The first woman to serve as the city ...

History

The party was established in 2005 by Moreno's mentor, Danny Lacuna, the vice mayor of Manila at that time. The party's signature hand gesture is pointing the

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...

upward which means "''God first''", the party's slogan. The party managed Moreno's successful vice mayoral campaign in the 2013 election, despite carrying then Mayor

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...

's United Nationalist Alliance ticket. In 2018, Moreno decided to challenge Estrada for the mayoralty 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 ...

. Moreno won the election and his allies then controlled a majority of seats in the

Manila City Council The Manila City Council (Spanish language, Spanish: Cabildo de Manila; Tagalog language, Tagalog: Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Maynila) is the legislature of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, capital city of the Philippines. It is composed of ...

. The

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

then took on the party as its local affiliate in August 2019, with Moreno being named as one of its vice chairmen. In 2021, the party changed its national affiliation to the progressive Aksyon Demokratiko with Moreno being named its national president. In the 2022 elections, the party attained a historic success. It won 34 of the 36 elective seats in the city council, as well as maintaining the mayoralty and vice mayoralty. Additionally, all six congressional elections were won by candidates allied with the party. In 2024, incumbent Mayor Honey Lacuna succeeded Isko Moreno as party leader of Asenso Manileño after he left to pursue a comeback run for mayor in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, which was later confirmed. Lacuna later joined the

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 ...

and formalized her re-election bid for mayor in 2025, eventually running against Moreno and 9 others. However, she and her running mate, incumbent Vice Mayor

Yul Servo John Marvin "Yul Servo" Cruz Nieto (born February 22, 1977) is a Filipino actor and politician who has served as the 28th Vice Mayor of Manila since 2022. Early life Nieto, nicknamed "Jon-Jon" as a child, was born in Calumpit, Bulacan, and ...

, lost to Moreno and Chi Atienza, respectively, with Asenso Manileño winning 12 or one-third of the elected seats of the Manila City Council.

Electoral performance

Mayoral and Vice Mayoral elections

City Council elections

House of Representatives elections

Notes

List of leaders

Slogan

* ''God first'' (until August 2024) * ''Kalinga sa Maynila'' (from August 2024)

References

{{Political parties in the Philippines 2005 establishments in the Philippines Political parties in Metro Manila Politics of Manila Political parties established in 2005 Regionalist parties in the Philippines