Tindig Pilipinas fields an ex-soldier, a rights defender, and a ‘bakwit leader’

The soldier, the human rights defender, and the Bangsamoro woman leader. 

These, in gist, are the three first-time senatorial candidates that cause-oriented opposition alliance Tindig Pilipinas presented before the media on Friday in Quezon City.

Tindig Pilipinas hopes to send Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, La Salle College of Law founding dean Atty. Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, and Bangsamoro leader Samira Gutoc-Tomawis into the halls of the Senate, together with reelectionist Senator Bam Aquino and former Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III.

The group vouched for the track record, principles, and platforms of these aspirants whom they branded as the “future fighters of the Filipino people.”

READ: Tindig Pilipinas endorses senatorial bets

The soldier

Alejano introduced himself as a Filipino soldier with a mission. Despite being a two-termer party-list congressman, he said he would like to bring his advocacies of security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity to the upper chamber.

“Ako po ay dating sundalo ng Philippine Marine ng ating sandatahang lakas. Ang lahat ng sugat sa aking katawan ay siyang patunay ng aking pakikipagdigma sa kalaban ng estado… (sa) aking mga karanasan, dun din natin nakuha ‘yung pagmulat ng ating mga mata sa mga tunay na kalagayan ng ating mga kababayan,” Alejano, a former mutineer, said.

Alejano was among the soldiers who staged the Oakwood and Manila Peninsula siege in 2003 and 2007 in an attempt to overthrow the Arroyo administration mainly over its allegedly corrupt governance.

The 45-year-old former soldier said he advocates the assertion of the Filipinos’ rights in the West Philippine Sea.

“Napakahirap tanggapin na parang ang ating gobeyerno ay hinayaan lamang ang panghihimasok, pang-aagaw ng teritoryo at pang-aabuso sa ating mamamayan. Ang West Philippine Sea ay sa atin at dapat natin ipaglaban iyan,” the lawmaker from Sipalay City, Negros Occidental said.

The human rights defender

Diokno, the son of late Senator Jose “Pepe” Diokno, currently leads the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG). This is the oldest and largest group of human rights lawyers in the country, which his father organized.

The cause of justice is close to Diokno’s heart, and he said he also wants this aspiration to be real even for the poor Filipinos.

“I cannot be quiet and sit idly by when this government continues to kill thousands of people in what they mistakenly call as the war on drugs… that war is a war against our legal system, the society that we know, and our democracy,” he said.

“I cannot remain silent in the face of all the injustice that I am seeing… I want to see peace and justice reign in our land,” he added.

The lady Bangsamoro leader

Gutoc-Tomawis vowed to be the “voice of Moro people and the women” as she hopes to be the first Maranao woman senator in the country.

Having been a witness to the onslaught of the siege in Islamic city of Marawi on May 23, 2017, the “bakwit leader” asserts that no war should devastate any part of the country again.

“Ako, dumating sa Manila sariling sikap, tumindig para sa taong walang pangalan ang burol sa sementeryo dahil namatay sa bomba dahil sa terorismo…” she said.

“Hindi po pwedeng may Marawi (muli) sa lupang bayan ng Pilipinas. Desisyon natin ‘yon bilang Pilipino. Ang kwento ng Marawi ay kwento ng Pilipino. ‘Wag pwersa po ang idaan,” she added.

She was a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Basic Law, but she resigned due to President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks about soldiers raping women, the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, and the non-stop bombings of Marawi City at the height of the siege.

Challenge 

Although the three hopefuls are not making it to the recent senatorial surveys, they remained positive that their causes would help them succeed in the 2019 midterm elections.

“Hindi naman kami tumitingin sa surveys, kami ay tumitingin sa sentimyento ng taumbayan,” Alejano said.

Gutoc-Tomawis, meanwhile, pointed out that people from Mindanao are usually out of reach by these surveys. 

Diokno, for his part, believes that their platforms and principles are more important factors.

“Wala po akong pakialam sa survey… Ang importante po sa akin mapag-usapan natin ang katarungan lalung-lao na para sa mga mahihirap,” he said.

Of the three, only Gutoc-Tomawis has already filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) at the Commission on Elections in Intramuros, Manila. Alejano and Diokno earlier said they would formalize their senatorial bid on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. 

The filing of COC will end by October 17.  /kga