More than a dozen senatorial aspirants, including President Rodrigo Duterte’s top aide, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, filed their Certificates of Candidacy (CoCs) yesterday.
Twelve candidates seeking seats at the House of Representatives under party-list groups also filed their CoCs on the third day of filing at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros, Manila.
So far, 63 senatorial candidates have filed their CoCs.
Senator Cynthia Villar, Maguindanao Rep. Sajid Mangudadatu, Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano and Sen. Grace Poe were the early birds.
Villar, accompanied by husband, former Senate president Manuel Villar, daughter Camille and son Paolo, is running under the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).
Villar said if she gets re-elected, she would push for programmes that would benefit the farmers, particularly helping them deliver their products directly to the consumers.
Villar said the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law should not be blamed for the soaring prices of goods and services, stressing that the government is trying to ease inflation by suspending the increase in fuel tax under Train 2 in 2019.
“We know that there is really a rice cartel, onion cartel. We were not able to control it and in a way failed to implement the law that is supposed to break the cartel, especially agricultural cartel,” she said.
Villar is one of the signatories of the Train law.
Poe meanwhile criticised the government for the slow implementation of programmes that could have cushioned the impact of high fuel cost and rising prices of goods and services.
She was also one of the lawmakers that supported the Train law.
“The reason why we supported that was because the government needed funds to roll out its programmes. We agreed to support (it) because there are supposed to be built in social mitigating measures,” she said.
The problem, Poe said, was taxes were collected but the supposed support to the poorest of the poor, like the conditional cash transfer and fuel voucher for public transport, were not delivered with dispatch.
Poe also criticised the Department of Transportation’s (DoTR) jeepney modernisation programme, which she said was not equitable and effective.
Former senator Lito Lapid was accompanied by son, former Pampanga governor Mark Lapid, when he filed his CoC.
Lapid neither spoke nor entertained questions from the media.
Mangudadatu, who is running under the administration’s PDP-Laban Party, said that if elected, he would work for unity in Mindanao.
He said the president convinced him to run for senator, so that there would be a Muslim representation in the Senate.
Go, the Special Assistant to the President, filed his CoC shortly before the cut-off time set by the poll body.
He was accompanied by President Rodrigo Duterte and incumbent and former members of the Cabinet.
“After months of contemplating and consulting with people that the president and I trust, I came to a decision — that is to run for public office. Like the president, I like to put the nation and the people first,” Go said.
If elected, he said he would push for legislations to boost the economy and expand medical services for the people, and strengthen the fight against corruption, criminality and illegal drugs. “Foremost on my agenda is the establishment of more Malasakit Centers, which the president has already started,” Go added.
He also stressed the need to revisit the Juvenile Justice Law, which exempts children 15 years old and below from imprisonment and other penalties, to save children from a life of crime.
Before heading to the Comelec, Go went to the San Miguel Church near Malacanang and then met with the president.
“This is the first time that I’m joining the elections. I am nervous. I am also saddened by the decision that I will have to make in my life,” a teary-eyed Go told reporters.
“I will be distancing myself from the president but I will try my best in my private capacity to help him. I am still beside him,” he added.
Those who accompanied Go were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, Commission on Higher Education officer-in-charge Prospero de Vera, and incoming Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon.
With the filing of his CoC, Go is deemed to have resigned from his post as Special Assistant to the President.
Go, 44, said he was unfazed by survey results.
“I’m not counting on the surveys because there are those included who are not running and there are those who were not included but they are running. So let’s wait for the final day of the filing to see who are really running. Let us let the people choose,” he said.
Also yesterday, President Duterte urged the military and police to stay “strictly neutral” as he vowed that there would be clean and honest elections next year.
In his speech during the Philippine Army’s change of command in Taguig City, Duterte said he would not allow the administration’s candidates, even his top aide Go, to use government resources.
“Bong is not my aide anymore. The moment he signed his certificate of candidacy, he ceased to be a government employee,” Duterte said.
“Nobody but nobody can use government resources, not even Bong. I will not allow (it),” he added.
The president asked the military to stay out of politics.
“Let us make a deal or promise, or make a commitment to the Filipino people. This election, strictly neutral all of us. The armed forces, the police, and the uniformed personnel of government, I am asking you not to indulge in partisan politics,” he said.
In its latest survey, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) found that six of those who made it to the “Magic 12” were re-electionists, while four are trying to stage a comeback in Congress.
The other two are new faces.
According to the survey commissioned by Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) Deputy Secretary General Alde Pagulayan, 52% of Filipinos said they would vote for Poe, who ranked first. She was followed by Villar, with 46%.
Former senator and Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano came third with 37%, followed by Sen. Nancy Binay, former senator Lito Lapid and Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, former senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Sen. Sonny Angara, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos.
Opposition stalwarts Mar Roxas and Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino rounded up the
magic 12.
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