Vice President Leni Robredo FILE PHOTO / OVP
While the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is overpopulated with prospective senatorial candidates for the 2019 midterm elections, the once-dominant Liberal Party (LP) is scrambling to complete its slate.
鈥淲e are not even sure鈥� if LP can field a 12-person roster, Vice President Leni Robredo, party chair, admitted in a recent interview in Cebu City.
鈥淲e are not sure because so few are left in LP now,鈥� she said, noting the party鈥檚 decimated numbers following the defection of dozens of its members to the PDP-Laban of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Speculations about the LP slate swirled last week after a little-known group calling itself 鈥淐oalition ng Demokrasya鈥� circulated a photo on social media of 12 political figures belonging to the opposition and mostly identified with the LP.
The supposed slate consists of former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Sen. Bam Aquino, former Sens. Teofisto Guingona III and Ramon Magsaysay Jr., former Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio, former Quezon Rep. Erin Ta帽ada, Reps. Jose Christopher Belmonte of Quezon City and Kaka Bag-ao of Dinagat Islands, and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osme帽a.
Completing the roster were members of the House opposition bloc known as the 鈥淢agnificent Seven鈥� 鈥� Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza, who both belong to the LP, and Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, who is allied with LP.
But denials soon ensued when they were asked about their ambitions.
鈥淭hanks for the endorsement by the Coalition ng Demokrasya but I have no intention of running for the Senate at the moment,鈥� Lagman said in a brief statement.
Daza said: 鈥淚鈥檓 not running for the Senate nor am I with this so-called coalition.鈥�
Belmonte, through his spokesperson Bobby Diciembre, said in Filipino: 鈥淚t is flattering, but it is not in his plans for now. He will continue his last term as the representative of the sixth district of Quezon City. He has already accomplished a lot but he wants to accomplish more for his constituents.鈥�
Alejano, however, neither confirmed nor denied planning to make a run for the Senate, only saying his party had yet to make a decision.
鈥淥n the part of Magdalo, we are still in the process of deciding whether to field senatorial candidates in the 2019 elections or not,鈥� he said. The only Magdalo senator, Antonio Trillanes IV, is on his last term and ineligible to run in 2019.
Robredo, in the Cebu City interview, said it was important that LP field candidates who embodied the party鈥檚 values.
She said the LP president, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, would lead the board that would screen senatorial aspirants for inclusion on the LP slate.
鈥淔irst, [the candidates] have to be qualified to be senators. They have to prove they will be a good addition to the Senate. Second, they have to embody the ideals of the party,鈥� she said.
She said prospective LP candidates need not be opposed to federalism, the centerpiece of the rival PDP-Laban鈥檚 platform, noting that LP had yet to make an official stand on it. 鈥淎ll our party asks now is that there be a constructive discussion on federalism,鈥� she said.
While LP鈥檚 choices are limited, PDP-Laban has begun pitching several names in public for its own senatorial ticket.
Some of the names mentioned by the party鈥檚 secretary general, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, as possible members are incumbent lawmakers 鈥� Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Reps. Karlo Nograles, Albee Benitez, Reynaldo Umali, Sajid Mangudadatu, and Geraldine Roman.
The Speaker also named Special Presidential Assistant Christopher 鈥淏ong鈥� Go, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Assistant Communications Secretary Mocha Uson and Presidential Political Adviser Francis Tolentino on his prospective list.
Though Alvarez stressed that the ruling party should pick from its own members, he expressed openness to supporting two Nacionalista stalwarts: reelection-seeking Sen. Cynthia Villar and Deputy Speaker Pia Cayetano.
鈥淭hey are not members of the party but they are very supportive of the President,鈥� he said in a recent press briefing in Zamboanga del Sur. /atm