Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Pangilinan on Monday said he is not planning to run for higher office in 2022, adding that he does not want to add up to the “oversupply of ambitious politicians” in the country.
“I’m up for reelection, that’s my plan. Ang shortage natin baboy, hindi ambisyosong politiko, Ayoko nang dagdagan, sobra sobra na. May oversupply na ng ambisyosong politiko, ‘wag na nating dagdagan,” Pangilinan said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
(I’m up for reelection, that’s my plan. What we have is a shortage of pork and not ambitious politicians. I don’t want to add up to that, it’s too much. There’s an oversupply of ambitious politicians, let’s not add to that.)
Pangilinan was asked if he is open to run for vice president in the 2022 elections.
A recent survey supposedly showed that he was among the choices for vice presidential candidates in the 2022 elections, with Vice President Leni Robredo as his running mate.
‘Register, be heard in 2022’
With six months to go before the Commission on Elections accepts certificates of candidacy for the 2022 elections, Pangilinan underscored the need to focus on getting more eligible voters to register.
“We had a hearing in the Senate electoral reforms committee, of the 73 million eligible voters in the country, 58 million are registered. So you have non-registered eligible voters numbering around 16 million, that’s enough to select the president,” he said.
“If we have complaints about what’s happening, we believe that we deserve better, then we should register,” he added.
“We also have estimates that the ages 18 to 29, the youth themselves, almost 10 million did not register in the last elections,” he further said.
According to Pangilinan, if those 10 million voters would have registered to vote in the last elections, ABS-CBN could have secured its franchise renewal and that the anti-terror law would not have been passed.
“Siguro kung nagparehistro yung mga yun at binoto yung palagay nilang karapat-dapat, baka bukas pa ang ABS-CBN ngayon, baka hindi napasa ang anti-terror law,” he said.
(I think if they registered and voted those who are worthy, ABS-CBN would still have its franchise and the anti-terror law would not have been enacted.)
“The deadline [of registration] is September 30. If you feel the need to do something about the challenges of the country, the first step I think is to register so that you can choose and support those who you believe should be supported,” he added.