NPC eyes Bam Aquino, Imee Marcos for its Senate slate in 2019

Senator Bam Aquino and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos. INQUIRER.net and INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

Senator Bam Aquino and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos would likely end up together — at least in a list of senatorial candidates that the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) will endorse in 2019.

Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III disclosed that some members would like to include Marcos in the line-up while some are pushing for Aquino.

Asked at a press conference on Thursday if the NPC would only choose one of the two, Sotto said: “I can’t answer that.”

“There is a possibility na kung mag usap usap kaming members ng NPC at pumayag silang lahat, there is possibility na pwede silang magkasama dun sa susuportahan namin,” he added.

He cited as example the case of Senator JV Ejercito and his half-brother, Jinggoy Estrada, who are both included in the initial NPC line-up.

Sotto, senior party adviser, earlier released a shortlist of senatorial bets that the NPC would endorse and campaign for in next year’s midterm elections.

The list include Ejercito and Estrada, Senators Grace Poe, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay, Sonny Angara, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, former Senator Lito Lapid, and former Police chief Ronaldo “Bato” Dela Rosa.

READ: NPC bares list of possible Senate bets for 2019

The party, he said, would formalize the list after the filing of certificates of candidacy.

“Kasi (Because) it’s not ideal for us to keep on mentioning names when later on they will not be running pala or they will no longer be interested, so we’d rather come out with an official list that we will support after the filing of certificate of candidacy,” he said.

“Right now, the names that I have been mentioning are the names that are being mentioned by NPC members and that we’re willing to support,” Sotto added.

The Senate leader clarified that while the NPC is allied with the ruling PDP-Laban, the alliance is only confined to how the government is run and “not particularly for elections.”

And since they are not in a coalition, Sotto said NPC is not obliged to support the candidates of PDP-Laban.

“When we say we are in alliance with the administration and with PDP-Laban in the running of government, in the way government is run — we are in alliance. Yun ang meaning nun (That’s the meaning), not particularly for elections,” he pointed out. /ee