MANILA, Philippines – For a moment, it seemed like this was a candidacy filing that was taking place during the Duterte years.
On the third day of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for national elective aspirants in the 2025 polls, senatorial hopefuls from former president Rodrigo Duterte’s party PDP took center stage, issuing anti-crime rhetoric in their pre-campaign pitch, and dragging the public into another guessing game of whether the old man from Davao would come back from retirement next year.
The slate is composed of reelectionist senators Bong Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, and actor Phillip Salvador.
“I want to bring back the time when families are not afraid, are sure that their children would be able to return home safely, that they won’t be kidnapped, raped, or killed,” Salvador said in Filipino on Thursday, October 3.
“We in PDP believe in the leadership and accomplishments of former president Duterte,” Go added. “The Build, Build, Build program, his campaign against criminality — can your child walk down the street without getting hurt or disrespected?” Go added.
The Duterte presidency was marked by a massive erosion of human rights in the country, with his administration’s drug war resulting in the extrajudicial killing of thousands of people. The House of Representatives under the administration of his successor President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is probing crimes that ran rampant from 2016 to 2022.
“We know what’s behind all these investigations. They form part of a grand demolition job against us — Duterte and the allies of Duterte,” Dela Rosa said.
Guessing game
As usual, the Dutertes are keeping their cards close to their chest, leaving the public guessing what government posts the family members would seek in 2025.
Dela Rosa said Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte is mulling a senatorial run, but with the caveat that the former president would succeed him in city hall.
Senator and PDP president Robin Padilla, who accompanied the party’s ticket to the filing venue, said he has been convincing the former president or one of his children to seek a seat in the upper chamber.
Duterte, already 79, has numerous ailments, from Buerger’s Disease to spinal issues, but Padilla brushed aside worries over the former president’s old age.
“The wisdom is greater,” Padilla said of Duterte.
Health issues
Speaking of health issues, physician Willie Ong formally joined next year’s senatorial race despite his cancer diagnosis.
Filing his COC on his behalf was his wife Liza, who struggled to hold back tears as she thanked people praying for her husband.
Ong is seeking medical treatment abroad, but his lawyer said he will be back in November, and can start campaigning in December.
“He knows and understands that his sickness is not something that will debilitate him enough to prevent him from doing that. There will be times it will be tough, and he will fight for it, but he is very confident that he will be physically fit in the event that he wins to perform the duties of a senator,” Ong’s legal counsel Gilberto Lauengco added.
FPJ’s grandson
Brian Poe Llamanzares, son of Senator Grace Poe and grandson of the late movie icon Fernando Poe Jr., is making a bid for Congress, as first nominee of party-list group FPJ Panday Bayanihan.
“Nepotism will never really go away. I’m not ashamed of being a Poe. Our family has provided good service. But I understand where people are coming from. That’s why I took my master’s in climate change, I took my master’s in national security, I took my PhD in public administration, and I started from the bottom in the office as a researcher,” Llamanzares said.
Other party-list groups that submitted their documents on Thursday include Health Workers, BHW of incumbent congresswoman Angelica Natasha-Co, solo parents’ group Swerte, and Ahon Mahirap, whose nominees include businessman-vlogger Wilbert Tolentino and outgoing Pateros Mayor Ike Ponce.
The running total for filers as of day 3 is 39 for senatorial aspirants, and 34 for party-list groups. – Rappler.com
