FILE PHOTO: In this photo taken on February 17, 2020, Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Committee on Women, Children, Family and Gender Equality, vows to further investigate the alleged “pastillas” system in the Bureau of Immigration to “weed out corrupt officials and propose policy changes,” during a hearing on human trafficking at the Philippine Senate (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros is planning to seek another term in the Senate in the 2022 national elections.
During an INQside Look interview, the legislator was asked about her plans for next year’s polls, to which she replied: “I hope to run for reelection to the Senate next year.”
Hontiveros is currently on her first term as a senator after being elected to the upper chamber in 2016.
Aside from Hontiveros, fellow opposition lawmaker, Senator Francis Pangilinan, is also eyeing a Senate reelection in 2022.
Hontiveros likewise said she supports a “broader unity” for the opposition, hoping this would lay the “trajectory for something different and something better for our country.”
Vice President Leni Robredo, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, and Pangilinan have all earlier underscored the need for the opposition to rally behind one presidential bet in the upcoming polls.
“I think sa oposisyon, gusto talaga naming maging isang bahagi ng isang proseso, tapos isang kongkretong outcome where we can achieve a broader unity, at its core sa values. Pero dagdag sa unity on values, in terms of being forward-looking for the benefit of the people,” Hontiveros said.
(I think in the opposition, we really want to be a part of one process that will lead to a single concrete outcome where we can achieve broader unity, with values at its core. But in addition to the unity in values, unity in terms of being forward-looking for the benefit of the people.)
“Kumbaga, ‘yung new and better normal ay hindi lang post-pandemic, post-recession pero post itong napaka-challenging na mga taon para sa ating tinatawag na contested democracy and moving forward through the process of transitional justice and healing and reconciliation, repairing damage sa ating lipunan,” she added.
(That is, the new and better normal should not only be post-pandemic or post-recession but also post the challenging past years for what is called our contested democracy and moving forward through the process of transitional justice and healing and reconciliation, repairing damage in our society.)