The Senate building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Update
A week before the filing of certificates of candidacy, incumbent and former senators and other prominent individuals have announced their intention to seek a Senate seat in the 2019 national elections.
Here’s a list of aspirants who would throw their hat in the ring for the 2019 senatorial derby:
Liberal Party (LP)
-Senator Bam Aquino
-Former Quezon Representative Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III
-Manuel Diokno
Aquino, Tañada, and Diokno’s were endorsed by the LP during its National Executive Council Meeting held in Quezon City on Sept. 25.
READ: LP fields Aquino, Diokno, Tañada for 2019 Senate race
Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC)
-Former Senator Lito Lapid
Lapid’s senatorial bid was confirmed by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, senior council leader of NPC, after the former senator took his oath on Thursday as a new member of the party.
READ: Lapid swears in for NPC to run for Senate seat
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban)
-Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa
Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police chief, announced his senatorial bid last Sept. 12 when he joined the ruling political party, PDP-Laban. Dela Rosa said President Rodrigo Duterte, chairman of the party, gave him the green light to run for a Senate seat.
READ: De la Rosa announces bid for 2019 senatorial race
Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats
-Former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
Revilla’s senatorial bid was announced on Friday by former Leyte 1st District representative Martin Romualdez, president of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).
“I am pleased and honored to officially announce the candidacy for the Senate of Sen. Bong Revilla Jr., our party chairman,” Romualdez said in a statement.
“This decision was reached after a series of consultations with his family, close friends, constituents and political leaders,” he added.
READ: Revilla to run for Senate seat in 2019 polls
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan
-Larry Gadon
Gadon, who initiated the impeachment complaint against former Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, had also reportedly confirmed his senatorial bid. Media reports said he has accepted the nomination of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan to join its senatorial slate in 2019.
Independent
-Romulo Macalintal
Macalintal confirmed on Thursday that he will join the senatorial race as an independent candidate but said he would be a guest-candidate of a coalition party of Vice President Leni Robredo. Macalintal is Robredo’s legal counsel on the electoral protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos.
READ: Macalintal to vie for a Senate seat in 2019 polls
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has set the filing for the certificates of candidacy from Oct. 11 to Oct. 17./ac